Barron w/ Usage Set 2

wary

very cautious. The spies grew wary as they approached the sentry.

oscillate

vibrate pendulumlike; waver It is interesting to note how public opinion oscillates between the extremes of optimism and pessimism.

onslaught

vicious assault We suffered many casualties during unexpected onslaght of the enemy troops.

profane

violate; desecrate Tourists are urged not to profane the sanctity of holy places by wearing improper garb.

peripatetic

walking about; moving The peripatetic school of philosophy derives its name from the fact that Aristotle walked with his pupils while discussing philosophy with them.

welter

wallow. At the height of the battle, the casualties were so numerous that the victims weltered in their blood while waiting for medical attention.

ramble

wander aimlessly (physically or mentally) Listening to the teacher ramble, Judy wondered whether he'd ever get to his point.

vagabond

wanderer; tramp In summer, college students wander the roads of Europe like carefree vagabonds.

migratory

wandering The return of the migratory birds to the northern sections of this country is a harbinger of spring.

parry

ward off a blow He was content to wage a defensive battle and tried to parry his opponent's thrusts.

vigilance

watchfulness Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

vacillate

waver; fluctuate Uncertain which suitor she ought to marry, the princess vacillated, saying now one, now the other.

ponderous

weighty; unwieldy His humor lacked the light touch; his jokes were always ponderous.

sinecure

well-paid position with little responsibility My job is no sinecure; I work long hours and have much responsibility.

vintner

winemaker; seller of wine The poet wondered what the vintners could buy that would be half as precious as the wine they sold.

verbose

wordy This article is too verbose; we must edit it.

opus

work Although many critics hailed his Fifth Symphony, he did not regard it as his major opus.

militate

work against Your record of lateness and absence will militate against your chances of promotion.

mundane

worldly as opposed to spiritual He was concerned only with mundane matters, especially the daily stock market quotations.

sallow

yellowish; sickly in color We were disturbed by his sallow complexion, which was due to jaundice.

succumb

yield; give in; die I succumb to temptation whenever it comes my way.

submissive

yielding; timid Crushed by his authoritarian father, Will had no defiance left in him; he was totally submissive in the face of authority.

motility

ability to move spontaneously Certain organisms exhibit remarkable motility; motile spores, for example, may travel for miles before coming to rest.

tangible

able to be touched; real; palpable Although Tom did not own a house, he had several tangible assets--a car, a television, a PC--that he could sell if he needed cash.

solvent

able to pay all debts By dint of very frugal living, he was finally able to become solvent and avoid bankruptcy proceedings.

quiescent

at rest; dormant After this geyser erupts, it will remain quiescent for twenty-four hours.

relegate

banish; consign to inferior position If we relegate these experts to minor posts because of their political persuasions, we shall lose their valuable services.

stint

be thrifty; set limits "Spare no expense," the bride's father said, refusing to stint on the wedding arrangements.

novice

beginner Even a novice can do good work if he follows these simple directions.

partial

biased; having a liking for something I am extremely partial to chocolate eclairs.

vendetta

blood feud The rival mobs engaged in a bitter vendetta.

tranquillity

calmness; peace After the commotion and excitement of the city, I appreciate the tranquillity of these fields and forests.

serenity

calmness; placidity The serenity of the sleepy town was shattered by a tremendous explosion.

rescind

cancel Because of public resentment, the king had to rescind his order.

revoke

cancel; retract Repeat offenders who continue to drive under the influence of alcohol face having their driver's licenses permanently revoked.

outspoken

candid; blunt The candidate was too outspoken to be a successful politician; he had not yet learned to weigh his words carefully.

taper

candle He lit the taper on the windowsill.

prehensile

capable of grasping or holding Monkeys use not only their arms and legs but also their prehensile tails in traveling through the trees.

viable

capable of maintaining life; practicable; workable The infant, though prematurely born, is viable and has a good chance to survive.

vagary

caprice; whim She followed every vagary of fashion.

plenary

complete; full The union leader was given plenary power to negotiate a new contract with the employers.

narcissist

conceited person A narcissist is his own best friend.

smirk

conceited smile Wipe that smirk off your face!

olfactory

concerning the sense of smell The olfactory organ is the nose.

muddle

confuse; mix up His thoughts were muddled and chaotic.

obfuscate

confuse; muddle Do not obfuscate the issues by dragging in irrelevant arguments.

profound

deep; not superficial; complete Freud's remarkable insights into human behavior caused his fellow scientists to honor him as a profound thinker.

sacrilegious

desecrating; profane His stealing of the altar cloth was a very sacrilegious act.

resolution

determination Nothing could shake his resolution to succeed despite all difficulties.

resolve

determination Nothing could shake his resolve that his children would get the best education that money could buy.

subsidy

direct financial aid by government, etc. Without this subsidy, American ship operators would not be able to compete in world markets.

squalid

dirty; neglected; poor It is easy to see how crime can breed in such a squalid neighborhood.

refute

disprove The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to refute the false testimony of the prosecution's only witness.

skeptic

doubter; person who suspends judgment until he has examined the evidence supporting a point of view. In this matter, I am a skeptic; I want proof.

rapport

emotional closeness; harmony In team teaching, it is important that all teachers in the group have good rapport with one another.

plethora

excess; overabundance She offered a plethora of excuses for her shortcomings.

superfluous

excessive; overabundant, unnecessary Please try not to include so many superfluous details in your report; just give me the bare facts.

potential

expressing possibility; latent The juvenile delinquent is a potential murderer.

voluble

fluent; glib She was a voluble speaker, always ready to talk.

noisome

foul smelling; unwholesome I never could stand the noisome atmosphere surrounding the slaughter houses.

malodorous

foul-smelling The component heap was most malodorous in summer.

putrid

foul; rotten; decayed The gangrenous condition of the wound was indicated by the putrid smell when the bandages were removed.

quadruped

four-footed animal Most mammals are quadrupeds.

scruple

fret about; hesitate, for ethical reasons Fearing that her husband had become involved in an affair, she did not scruple to read his diary.

outskirts

fringes; outer borders Living outskirts of Boston, Sarah sometimes felt as if she were cut off from the cultural heart of the city.

porous

full of pores; like a sieve Dancers like to wear porous clothing because it allows the ready passage of water and air.

obsequy

funeral ceremony Hundreads paid their last respects at his obsequies.

serendipity

gift for finding valuable or desirable things by accident; accidental good fortune or luck Many scientific discoveries are a matter of serendipity: Newton was not sitting there thinking about gravity when the apple dropped on his head.

mammoth

gigantic The mammoth corporations of the twentieth century are a mixed blessing

vouchsafe

grant condescendingly; guarantee I can safely vouchsafe you fair return on your investment.

pall

grow tiresome The study of word lists can eventually pall and put one to sleep.

pendulous

hanging; suspended The pendulous chandeliers swayed in the breeze as if they were about to fall from the ceiling.

slapdash

haphazard; careless; sloppy From the number of typos and misspellings I've found on it, it's clear that Mario proofread the report in a remarkably slapdash fashion.

privation

hardship; want In his youth, he knew hunger and privation.

perspicacious

having insight; penetrating; astute The brillant lawyer was known for his perspicacious deductions.

musky

having the odor of musk She left a trace of musky perfume behind her.

nascent

incipient; coming into being If we could identify these revolutionary movements in their nascent state, we would be able to eliminate serious trouble in later years.

partiality

inclination; bias As a judge, not only must I be unbiased, but I must also avoid any evidence of partiality when I award the prize.

prevail

induce; triumph over He tried to prevail on her to type his essays for him.

missive

letter The ambassador received a missive from the Secretary of State.

unfettered

liberated; freed from chains Chained to the wall for months on end, the hostage despaired that he would ever be unfettered.

prevaricate

lie Some people believe that to prevaricate in a good cause is justifiable and regard the statement as a "white lie."

vernacular

living language; natural style Cut out those old-fashioned "thee's" and "thou's" and write in the vernacular.

repugnance

loathing She looked at the snake with repugnance.

yen

longing; urge. She had a yen to get away and live on her own for a while.

retrospective

looking back on the past It is only when we become retrospective that we can appreciate the tremendous advances made during this century.

nadir

lowest point Although few people realized it, the Dow-Jones averages had reached their nadir and would soon begin an upward surge.

steadfast

loyal; unswerving Penelope was steadfast in her affections, faithfully waiting for Ulysses to return from his wanderings.

tepid

lukewarm During the summer, I like to take a tepid bath, not a hot one.

monumental

massive Writing a dictionary is a monumental task.

scanty

meager; insufficient Thinking his helping of food was scanty, Oliver Twist asked for more.

niggardly

meanly stingy; parsimonious The niggardly pittance the widow receives from the government cannot keep her from poverty.

sustenance

means of support, food, nourishment In the tropics, the natives find sustenance easy to obtain because of all the fruit trees.

rendezvous

meeting place The two fleets met at the rendezvous at the appointed time.

mausoleum

monumental tomb His body was placed in the family mausolem.

optimum

most favorable If you wait for the optimum moment to act, you may never begin your project .

sacrosanct

most sacred; inviolable The brash insurance salesman invaded the sacrosanct privacy of the office of the president of the company.

mobile

movable; not fixed The mobile blood bank operated by the Red Cross visited our neighborhood today.

scurry

move briskly The White Rabbit had to scurry to get to his appointment on time.

skulk

move furtively and secretly He skulked through the less fashionable sections of the city in order to avoid meeting any of his former friends.

lumber

move heavily of clumsily Still somewhat torpid after its long hibernation, the bear lumbered through the woods.

undulate

move with a wavelike motion The flag undulated in the breeze.

whinny

neigh like a horse. When he laughed through his nose, it sounded as if he whinnied.

patrician

noble; aristocratic We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance

passive

not active; acted upon Mahatma Gandhi urged his followers to pursue a program of passive resistance as he felt that it was more effective than violence and acts of terrorism.

nurture

nourish; educate; foster The head Start program attempts to nurture prekindergarten children so that they will do well when they enter public school.

nutrient

nourishing substance As a budding nutritionist, Kim has learned to design diets that contain foods rich in important basic nutrients.

phenomena

observable facts; subjects of scientific investigation We kept careful records of the phenomena we noted in the course of these experiments.

tender

offer; extend Although no formal changes had been made against him, in the wake of the recent scandal the mayor felt he should tender his resignation.

unctous

oily; bland; insincerely suave Uriah Heep disguised his nefarious actions by unctuous protestations of his "'umility."

unguent

ointment Apply this unguent to the sore muscles before retiring.

senility

old age; feeble mindedness of old age Most of the decisions are being made by the junior members of the company because of the senility of the president.

passe

old-fashioned; past the prime Her style is passe and reminiscent of the Victorian era.

pacifist

one opposed to force; antimilitarist The pacifists urged that we reduce our military budget and recall our troops stationed overseas.

saboteur

one who commits sabotage; destroyer of property Members of the Resistance acted as saboteurs, blowing up train lines to prevent supplies from reaching the Nazi army.

malingerer

one who feigns illness to escape duty The captain ordered the sergeant to punish all malingerers and force them to work.

optometrist

one who fits glasses to remedy visual defects Although an optometrist is qualified to treat many eye disorders, she may not use medicinesor surgery in her examinations.

misanthrope

one who hates mankind We thought the hermit was a miantrope because he shunned our society.

unilateral

one-sided This legislation is unilateral since it binds only one party in the controversy.

partisan

one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party On certain issues of conscience, she refused to take a partisan stand.

seep

ooze; trickle During the rainstorm, water seeped through the crack in the basement wall and damaged the floor boards.

patent

open for the public to read; obvious It was patent to everyone that the witness spoke the truth.

overt

open to view According to the United States Constitution, a person must commit an overt act before he may be tried for treason.

mediocre

ordinary; commonplace We were disappointed because he gave a rather mediocre performance in this role.

pedestrian

ordinary; unimaginative Unintentionally boring, he wrote page after page of pedestrian prose.

provenance

origin or source of something I am not interested in its provenance; I am more concerned with its usefulness than with its source.

prototype

original work used as a model by others The crude typewriter on display in this museum is the prototype of the elaborate machines in use today.

proscribe

ostracize; banish; outlaw Antony, Octavius and Lepidus proscribed all those who had conspired against Julius Caesar.

upshot

outcome The upshot of the rematch was that the former champion proved that he still possessed all the skills of his youth.

travail

painful labor How long do you think a man can endure such travail and degradation without rebelling?

tract

pamphlet; a region of indefinite size The King granted William Penn a tract of land in the New World.

whittle

pare; cut off bits. As a present for Aunt Polly, Tom whittled some clothespins out of a chunk of wood.

penumbra

partial shadow (in an eclipse) During an eclipse, we can see an area of total darkness and a lighter area, which is the penumbra.

translucent

partly transparent We could not recognize the people in the next room because of the translucent curtains that separated us.

trajectory

path taken by a projectile The police tried to locate the spot from which the assassin had fired the fatal shot by tracing the trajectory of the bullet.

resignation

patient submissiveness; statement that one is quitting a job If Bob Cratchit had not accepted Scrooge's bullying with timid resignation, he might have gotten up the nerve to hand in his resignation.

stipend

pay for services There is a nominal stipend for this position.

placid

peaceful; calm After his vacation in this placid section, he felt soothed and rested.

pinnacle

peak We could see the morning sunlight illuminate the pinnacle while the rest of the mountain lay in shadow.

stickler

perfectionist; person who insists things be exactly right The Internal Revenue Service agent was a stickler for accuracy; no approximations or rough estimates would satisfy him.

tangential

peripheral; only slightly connected; digressing Despite Clark's attempts to distract her with tangential remarks, Lois kept on coming back to her main question: why couldn't he come out to dinner with Superman and her?

transparent

permitting to light to pass through freely; easily detected Your scheme is so transparent that it will fool no one.

problematic

perplexing; unsettled: questionable Given the many areas of conflict still awaiting resolution, the outcome of the peace talks remains problematic.

poseur

person who pretends to be sophisticated, elegant, etc., to impress others Some thought Dali was a brillant painter; others dismissed him as a poseur.

thermal

pertaining to heat The natives discovered that the host springs gave excellent thermal baths and began to develop their community as a health resort.

mnemonic

pertaining to memory He used mnemonic tricks to master new words.

monetary

pertaining to money Jane held the family purse strings: she made all monetary decisions affecting the household.

vernal

pertaining to spring We may expect vernal showers all during the month of April.

sartorial

pertaining to tailors He was as famous for the sartorial splendor of his attire as he was for his acting.

metallurgical

pertaining to the art of removing metals from ores During the course of his metallurgical research, the scientist developed a steel alloy of tremendous strength.

sylvan

pertaining to the woods; rustic His paintings of nymphs in sylvan backgrounds were criticized as oversentimental.

relevant

pertinent; referring to the case in hand Teri was impressed by how relevant Virginia Woolf's remarks were to her as a woman writer; it was as if Woolf had been writing with Teri's situation in mind.

minutiae

petty details She would have liked to ignore the minutiae of daily living.

topography

physical features of a region Before the generals gave the order to attack, they ordered a complete study of the topography of the region.

pediatrician

physician specializing in children's diseases. The family doctor advised the parents to consult a pediatrician about their child's ailment.

oculist

physician who specialized in treatment of the eyes In many states, an oculist is the only one who may apply medicinal drops to the eyes for the purpose of examining them.

troth

pledge of good faith especially in betrothal He gave her his troth and vowed to cherish her always.

pillage

plunder The enemy pillaged the quiet village and left it in ruins.

muse

ponder For a moment he mused about the beauty of the scene, but his thought soon changed as he recalled his own personal problems.

tentative

provisional; experimental Your tentative plans sound plausible; let me know when the final details are worked out.

narrative

related to telling a story A born teller of tales, Olsen used her impressive narrative skills to advantage in her story "I Stand Here Ironing."

thematic

relating to a unifying motif or idea Those who think of Moby Dick as a simple adventure story about whaling miss is underlying thematic import.

schematic

relating to an outline or diagram; using a system of symbols In working out the solution to an analytical logic question, you may find it helpful to construct a simple schematic diagram illustrating the relationships between the items of information given in the question.

spatial

relating to space It is difficult to visualize the spatial extent of our universe.

penitent

repentant When he realized the enormity of his crime, he became remorseful and penitent.

rote

repetition He recited the passage by rote and gave no indication he understood what he was saying.

supplant

replace; usurp Corazon Aquino supplanted Ferdinand Marcos as president of the Philippines.

odium

repugnance; dislike I cannot express the odium I feel at your heinous actions.

solicit

request earnestly; seek Knowing she needed to have a solid majority for the budget to pass, the mayor telephoned all the members of the city council to solicit their votes.

restive

restlessly impatient; obstinately resisting control Waiting impatiently in the line to see Santa Claus, even the best-behaved children grow restive and start to fidget.

vindictive

revengeful She was very vindictive and never forgave an injury.

nemesis

revenging agent Captain Bligh vowed to be Christian's nemesis.

venerate

revere In China, the people venerate their ancestors.

resurgent

rising again after defeat, etc. The resurgent nation surprised everyone by its quick recovery after total defeat.

paucity

scarcity They closed the restaurant because the paucity of customers made it uneconomical to operate.

seminary

school for training future ministers; secondary school, especially for young women Sure of his priestly vocation, Terrence planned to pursue his theological training at the local Roman Catholic seminary.

primogeniture

seniority by birth By virtue of primogeniture, in some cultures the first-born child has many privileges denied his brothers and sisters.

touchy

sensitive; irascible Do not discuss this phase of the problem as he is very touchy about it.

sentinel

sentry; lookout Though camped in enemy territory, Bledsoe ignored the elementary precaution of posting sentinels around the encampment.

sunder

separate; part Northern and southern Ireland are politically and religiously sundered.

toady

servile flatterer; yes man Never tell the boss anything he doesn't wish to hear: he doesn't want an independent adviser, he just wants a toady.

premonitory

serving to warn You should have visited a doctor as soon as you felt these premonitory chest pains.

trigger

set off John is touchy today; say one word wrong and you'll trigger an explosion.

ordeal

severe trial or affliction Terry Anderson spoke movingly of his long ordeal as a hostage in Lebanon.

rigor

severity Many settlers could not stand the rigors of the New England winters.

mangy

shabby; wretched We finally thew out the mangy rug that the dog had destroyed.

nuance

shade of difference in meaning or color The unskilled eye of the layperson has difficulty in dicerning the nuances of color in the paintings.

pedantic

showing off learning; bookish Leaving his decisions with humorous, down-to-earth anecdotes, Judge Walker was not at all pedantic legal scholar.

ostentatious

showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention Trump's latest casino in Atlantic City is the most ostentatious gambling place in the East: it easily outglitters its competitors.

scintilla

shred; least bit You have not produced a scintilla of evidence to support your argument.

spangle

small metallic piece sewn to clothing for ornamentation The thousands of spangles on her dress sparkled in the glare of the stage lights.

vent

small opening; outlet The wine did not flow because the air vent in the barrel was clogged.

supererogatory

superfluous; more than needed or demanded We have more than enough witnesses to corroborate your statement; to present any more would be supererogatory.

preponderance

superiority of power, quantity, etc. The rebels sought to overcome the preponderance of strength of the government forces by engaging in guerrilla tactics.

overhaul

thoroughly examine the condition of and repair if necessary It is necessary for the engineers of NASA to overhaul the rocket everyday; otherwise, an incident similar to that of Challenger accident might happen.

trident

three-pronged spear Neptune is usually depicted as rising from the sea, carrying his trident on his shoulder.

pulsate

throb We could see the blood vessels in his temple pulsate as he became more angry.

palpitate

throb; flutter As he became excited, his heart began to palpitate more and more erratically.

precipitate

throw headlong; hasten The removal of American political support appeared to have precipitated the downfall of the Marcos regime.

titillate

tickle I am here not to titillate my audience but to enlighten it.

stigma

token of disgrace; brand I do not attach any stigma to the fact that you were accused of this crime; the fact that you were acquitted clears you completely.

quisling

traitor who aids invaders In his conquest of Europe, Hitler was aided by the quislings who betrayed their own people and served in the puppet governments established by the Nazis.

quietude

tranquillity He was impressed by the air of quietude and peace that pervaded the valley.

pellucid

transparent; limpid; easy to understand After reading these stodgy philosophers, I find his pellucid style very enjoyable.

trek

travel; journey The tribe made their trek further north that summer in search of game.

perifidious

treacherous; disloyal When Caesar realized that Brutus had betrayed him, he reproached his perfidious friend.

tremor

trembling; slight quiver She had a nervous tremor in her right hand.

tremulous

trembling; wavering She was tremulous more from excitement than from fear.

ruse

trick; stratagem You will not be able to fool your friends with such an obvious ruse.

superficial

trivial; shallow Since your report gave only a superficial analysis of the problem, I cannot give you more than a passing grade.

petty

trivial; unimportant; very small She had no major complaints to make about his work, only a few petty quibbles that were almost too minor to state.

pest

troublesome or annoying person He was a pest; always bothering people.

veracity

truthfulness Trying to prove Hill a liar, Senator Spector repeatedly questioned her veracity.

precarious

uncertain; risky I think this stock is a precarious investment and advise against its purchase.

untoward

unfortunate; annoying Untoward circumstances prevent me from being with you on this festive occasion.

singular

unique; extraordinary; odd Though the young man tried to understand Father William's singular behavior, he still found it odd that the old man incessantly stood on his head.

lumen

unit of light energy (one candle's worth) In buying light bulbs, she checked not only their power, as measured in watts, but their brightness, as measured in lumens.

unison

unity of pitch; complete accord The choir sang in unison.

omnipresent

universally present; ubiquitous On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus is omnipotent.

unwarranted

unjustified; groundless; undeserved We could not understand Martin's unwarranted rudeness to his mother's guests.

mirage

unreal reflection; optical illusion The lost prospector was fooled by a mirage in the desert.

studied

unspontaneous; deliberate; thoughtful Given Jill's previous slights, Jack felt that the omission of his name from the guest list was a studied insult.

untenable

unsupportable I find your theory untenable and must reject it.

unsullied

untarnished I am happy that my reputation is unsullied.

probity

uprightness; incorruptibility Everyone took his probity for granted; his defalcations, therefore, shocked us all.

suavity

urbanity; polish He is particulary good in roles that require suavity and sophistication.

prophylactic

used to prevent disease Despite all prophylactic measures introduced by the authorities, the epidemic raged until cool weather set in.

refrain

v. abstain from; resist n. chorus Whenever he heard a song with a lively chorus, Sol could never refrain from joining in on the refrain.

nebulous

vague; hazy; cloudy She had only a nebulous memory of her grandmother's face.

wistful

vaguely longing; sadly pensive. With a last wistful glance at the happy couples dancing in the hall, Sue headed back to her room to study for her exam.

multifarious

varied; greatly diversified A career woman and mother, she was constantly busy with the multifarious activities of her daily life.

pied

variegated; multicolored The pied piper of Hamelin got his name from the multicolored clothing he wore.

sundry

various; several My suspicions were aroused when I read sundry items in the newspapers about your behavior.

tarantula

venomous spider We need an antitoxin to counteract the bite of the tarantula.

voyeur

Peeping Jill called Jack a voyeur when she caught him aiming his binoculars at a bedroom window of the house next door.

toga

Roman outer robe Marc Antony pointed to the slashes in Caesar's toga.

saga

Scandinavian myth; any legend This is a saga of the sea and the men who risk their lives on it.

psychiatrist

a doctor who treats mental diseases A psychiatrist often needs long conferences with his patient before a diagnosis can be made.

scad

a great quantity Refusing Dave's offer to lend him a shirt, Phil replied, "No, thanks: I've got scads of clothes."

minion

a servile dependent He was always accompanied by several of his minions because he enjoyed their subservience and flattery.

pittance

a small allowance or wage He could not live on the pittance he received as a pension and had to look for an additional source of revenue.

relinquish

abandon I will relinquish my claims to this property if you promise to retain my employees.

renounce

abandon; disown; repudiate Even though she knew she would be burned at the stake as a witch, Joan of Arc refused to renounce her belief that her voices came from God.

ventral

abdominal We shall now examine the ventral plates of this serpent, not the dorsal side.

plasticity

ability to be molded When clay dries out, it loses its plasticity and becomes less malleable.

prescience

ability to foretell the future Given the current wave of Japan-bashing, it does not take prescience for me to foresee problems in our future trade relations with Japan.

riveting

absorbing; engrossing The reviewer described Byatt's novel Possession as a riveting tale: absorbed in the story, he had finished it in a single evening.

recondite

abstruse; profound; secret He read many recondite books in order to obtain the material for the scholarly thesis.

preposterous

absurd; ridiculous When the candidate tried to downplay his youthful experiments with marijuana by saying he hadn't inhaled, we all thought, "What a preposterous excuse!"

plenitude

abundance; completeness Looking in the pantry, we admired the plenitude of fruits and pickles we had preserved during the summer.

rife

abundant; current In the face of the many rumors of scandal, which are rife at the moment, it is best to remain silent.

prolific

abundantly fruitful She was a prolific writer who produced as many as three books a year.

vituperative

abusive; scolding He became more vituperative as he realized that we were not going to grant him his wish.

mishap

accident With a little care you could have avoided this mishap.

spoonerism

accidental transposition of sounds in sucessive words When the radio announcer introduced the President as Hoobert Herver, he was guilty of spoonerism.

wean

accustom a baby not to nurse; give up a cherished activity. He decided he would wean himself away from eating junk food and stick to fruits and vegetables.

vivisection

act of dissecting living animals The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals opposed vivisection and deplored the practice of using animals in scientific experiments.

repulsion

act of driving back; distaste The repulsion of the enemy forces was not accomplished bloodlessly; many of the defenders were wounded in driving the enemy back.

orientation

act of finding oneself in society Freshman orientation provides the incoming students with an opportunity to learn about their new environment and their place in it.

summation

act of finding the total, summary In his summation, the lawyer emphasized the testimony given by the two witnesses.

volition

act of making a conscious choice She selected this dress of her own volition.

vicarious

acting as a substitute; done by a deputy Many people get a vicarious thrill at the movies by imagining they are the characters on the screen.

pantomime

acting without dialogue Because he worked in pantomime, the clown could be understood wherever he appeared.

vigor

active strength Although he was over seventy years old, Jack had the vigor of a man in his prime.

viscid

adhesive; gluey The trunk of the maple tree was viscid with sap.

precocious

advanced in development By her rather adult manner of discussing serious topics, the child demonstrated that she was precocious.

suffragist

advocate of voting rights (for women) In recognition of her efforts to win the vote for women, Congress authorized coining a silver dollar honoring the suffragist Susan B. Anthony.

mannered

affected; not natural Attempting to copy the style of his wealthy neighbors, Gatsby adopted a mannered, artificial way of speech.

mincing

affectedly dainty Yum-Yum walked across the stage with mincing steps.

posthumous

after death (as of child born after father's death or book published after author's death) The critics ignored his works during his lifetime; it was only after the posthumous publication of his last novel that they recognized his great talent.

winsome

agreeable; gracious; engaging. By her winsome manner, she made herself liked by everyone who met her.

palatable

agreeable; pleasing to the taste Neither Jack's underbaked opinions nor his overcooked casseroles were palatable to me.

truculence

agressiveness; ferocity Tynan's reviews were noted for their caustic attacks and general tone of truculence.

succor

aid; assistance; relief We shall be ever grateful for the succor our country gave us when we were in need.

omniscient

all-knowing I do not pretend to be omniscient, but I am positive about this fact.

omnipotent

all-powerful The monarch regarded himself as omnipotent and responsible to no one for his acts.

waylay

ambush; lie in wait. They agreed to waylay their victim as he passed through the dark alley going home.

rider

amendment or clause added to a legislative bill Senator Foghorn said he would support Senator Filibuster's tax reform bill only if Filibuster agreed to add an antipollution rider to the bill.

reparation

amends; compensation At the peace conference, the defeated country promised to pay reparations to the victors.

yield

amount produced; crop; income on investment. An experienced farmer can estimate the annual yield of his acres with surprising accuracy.

progenitor

ancestor The Roth family, whose progenitors emigrated from Germany early in the nineteenth century, settled in Peru, Illinois.

papyrus

ancient paper made from stem of papyrus plant The ancient Egyptians were among the first to write on papyrus.

wrath

anger; fury. She turned to him, full of wrath, and said, "What makes you think I'll accept lower pay for this job than you get?"

parasite

animal or plant living on another; toady; sycophant The tapeworm is an example of the kind of parasite that may infest the human body.

vex

annoy; distress Please try not to vex your mother; she is doing the best she can.

nettle

annoy; vex Do not let him nettle you with his sarcastic remarks.

perquisite

any gain above stipulated salary The perquisites attached to this job make it even more attractive than the salary indicates.

ostensible

apparent; professed; pretended Although the ostensible purpose of this expedition is to discover new lands, we are really interested in finding new markets for our products.

verisimilitude

appearance of truth; likelihood Critics praised her for the verisimilitude of her performance as Lady Macbeth. She was completely believable.

mitigate

appease Nothing he did could mitigate her wrath; she was unforgiving.

propitiate

appease The natives offered sacrifices to propitiate the gods.

ratify

approve formally; verify Before the treaty could go into effect, it had to be ratified by the president.

sanction

approve; ratify Nothing will convince me to sanction the engagement of my daughter to such a worthless young man.

plauditory

approving; applauding The theatrical company reprinted the plauditory comments of the critics in its advertisement.

stemfrom

arise from Milton's problems in school stemmed from his poor study habits.

symmetry

arrangement of parts so that balance is obtained; congruity The addition of a second tower will give this edifice the symmetry that it now lacks.

presumptous

arrogant; taking liberties It seems presumptous for one so relatively new to the field to challenge the conclusions of its leading experts.

rhetoric

art of effective communication; insincere or grandiloquent language All writers, by necessity, must be skilled in rhetoric.

treatise

article treating a subject systematically and thoroughly He is preparing a treatise on the Elizabethan playwrights for his graduate degree.

sluice

artificial channel for directing or controlling the flow of water In times of drought, this sluice enables farmers to obtain water for irrigation.

synthetic

artificial; resulting from synthesis During the twentieth century, many synthetic products have replaced the natural products.

sophistication

artificiality; unnaturalness; act of employing sophistry in reasoning Sophistication is an acquired characteristic, found more frequently among city dwellers than among residents of rural areas.

posture

assume an affected pose; act artificially No matter how much Arnold boasted or postured, I could not believe he was as important as he pretended to be.

supposititious

assumed; counterfeit; hypothetical I find no similarity between your supposititious illustration and the problem we are facing.

premise

assumption; postulate Because Jack had based his argument upon a faulty premise, his opponent cheerfully pointed out the holes in his logic.

moribund

at the point of death The doctors called the family to the bedside of the moribund patient.

offensive

attacking; insulting; distasteful Getting into street brawls is no minor offense for professional boxers, who are required by law to restrict their offensive impulses to the ring.

personable

attractive The man I am seeking to fill this position must be personable since he will be representing us before the public.

magisterial

authoritative; imperious The learned doctor laid down the law to his patient in a magisterial tone of voice.

proxy

authorized agent Please act as my proxy and vote for this slate of candidates in my absence.

loath

averse; reluctant They were both loath for him to go.

shirk

avoid (responsibility, work, etc.); malinger Brian has a strong sense of duty; he would never shirk any responsibility.

temporize

avoid committing oneself; gain time I cannot permit you to temporize any longer; I must have a definite answer today.

ungainly

awkward He is an ungainly young man; he trips over everything.

unwieldy

awkward; cumbersome; unmanageable The large carton was so unwieldy that the movers had trouble getting it up the stairs.

prattle

babble The children prattle endlessly about their new toys.

thwart

baffle; frustrate He felt that everyone was trying to thwart his plans and prevent his success.

rusticate

banish to the country; dwell in the country I like city life so much that I can never understand how people can rusticate in the suburbs.

quizzical

bantering; comical; humorously serious Will Rogers' quizzical remarks endeared him to his audiences.

practical

based on experience; useful He was a practical man, opposed to theory

seethe

be disturbed; boil The nation was seething with discontent as the nobleman continued their arrogant ways.

swelter

be oppressed by heat I am going to buy an air conditioning unit for my apartment as I do not intend to swelter through another hot and humid summer.

transpire

be revealed; happen When Austen writes the sentence "It had just transpired that he had left gaming debts behind him," her meaning is not that the debts had just been incurred, but the the shocking news had just leaked out.

nib

beak; pen point The nibs of fountain pens often become clotted and corroded.

ursine

bearlike; pertaining to a bear Because of its ursine appearance, the great panda has been identified with the bears; actually, it is closely related to the raccoon.

pummel

beat The severity with which he was pummeled was indicated by the bruises he displayed on his head and face.

pulchritude

beauty; comeliness I do not envy the judges who have to select this year's Miss America from this collection of female pulchritude.

mendicant

beggar From the moment we left the ship, we were surrounded by mendicants and peddlers.

tyro

beginner; novice For a mere tyro, you have produced some marvelous results.

subservient

behaving like a slave; servile; obsequious He was proud and dignified; he refused to be subservient to anyone.

ubiquitous

being everywhere; omnipresent That Christmas "The Little Drummer Boy" seemed ubiquitous: Justin heard the tune everywhere he went.

monotheism

belief in one God Abraham was the first to proclaim his belief in monotheism.

pessimism

belief that life is basically bad or evil; gloominess The good news we have been receiving lately indicates that there is little reason for your pessimism.

subliminal

below the threshold We may not be aware of the subliminal influences that affect our thinking.

refraction

bending of a ray of light When you look at a stick inserted in water, it looks bent because of the refraction of the light by the water.

preternatural

beyond that which is normal in nature John's mother's total ability to tell when he was lying struck him as almost preternatural.

obligatory

binding; required It is obligatory that books borrowed from the library be returned within two weeks.

stringent

binding; rigid I think these regulations are too stringent.

mordant

biting; sarcastic; stinging Actors feared the critic's mordant pen.

rancor

bitterness; hatred Let us forget out rancor and cooperate in this new endeavor.

outlandish

bizzare; peculiar; unconventional The eccentric professor who engages in markedly outlandish behavior is a stock figure in novels with an academic setting.

necromancy

black magic; dealings with the dead Because he was able to perform feats of necromancy, the natives thought he was in league with the devil.

reproach

blame; censure I want my work to be above reproach and without error

unimpeachable

blameless and exemplary Her conduct in office was unimpeachable and her record is spotless.

sanguinary

bloody The battle of lwo Jina was unexpectedly sanguinary with many casualties.

obtuse

blunt; stupid Because he was so obtuse, he could not follow the teacher's reasoning and asked foolish questions.

palette

board on which a painter mixes pigments At the present time, art supply stores are selling a paper palette that may be discarded after use.

vaunted

boasted; bragged; highly publicized This much vaunted project proved a disappointment when it collapsed.

magniloquent

boastful, pompous In their stories of the trial, the reporters ridiculed the magniloquent speeches of the defense attorney.

vainglorious

boastful; excessively conceited She was a vainglorious and arrogant individual.

regatta

boat or yacht race Many boating enthusiasts followed the regatta in their own yachts.

revelry

boisterous merrymaking New Year's Eve is a night of revelry.

obstreperous

boisterous; noisy The crowd became obstreperous and shouted their disapproval of the proposals made by the speaker.

venturesome

bold A group of venturesome women were the first to scale Mt.Annapurna.

temerity

boldness; rashness Do you have the temerity to argue with me?

stilted

bombastic; stiffly pompous His stilted rhetoric did not impress the college audience; they were immune to bombastic utterances.

verge

border; edge Madame Curie knew she was on the verge of discovering the secrets of radioactive elements.

maritime

bordering on the sea; nautical The maritime Provinces depend on the sea for their wealth.

tedium

boredom; weariness We hope this radio will help overcome the tedium of your stay in the hospital.

overbearing

bossy; arrogant; decisively important Certain of her own importance and of the unimportance of everyone else, Lady Bracknell was intolerably overbearing in manner. "In choosing a husband," she said, "good birth is of overbearing importance; compared to that, neither wealth nor talent signifie

obeisance

bow She made an obeisance as the king and queen entered the room.

pugilist

boxer The famous pugilist Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammed Ali.

ramification

branching out; subdivision We must examine all the ramifications of this problem.

valor

bravery He received the Medal of Honor for his valor in battle.

respiration

breathing; exhalation The doctor found that the patient's years of smoking had adversely affected both his lung capacity and his rate of respiration.

succinct

brief; terse; compact His remarks are always succinct and pointed.

resplendent

brilliant; lustrous The toreador wore a resplendent costume called a suit of lights.

nonplus

bring to a halt by confusion; perplex Jack's uncharacteristic rudeness nonplussed Jill, leaving her uncertain how to react.

rationalization

bringing into conformity with reason All attempts at rationalization at this time are doomed to failure; tempers and emotions run too high for intelligent thought to prevail.

spatula

broad-bladed instrument used for spreading or mixing The manufacturers of this frying pan recommended the use of a rubber spatula to avoid scratching the specially treated surface.

sibling

brother or sister We may not enjoy being siblings, but we cannot forget that we still belong to the same family.

voluminous

bulky; large Despite her family burdens, she kept up a voluminous correspondence with her friends.

ruffian

bully; scoundrel The ruffians threw stones at the police.

sheaf

bundle of stalks of grain; any bundle of things tied together The lawyer picked up a sheaf of papers as he rose to question the witness.

onus

burden; responsibility The emperor was spared the onus of signing the surrender papers; instead, he relegated the assignment to his generals.

onerous

burdensome He asked for an assistant because his work load was too onerous.

smolder

burn without flame; be liable to break out at any moment The rags smoldered for hours before they burst into flame.

wheedle

cajole; coax; deceive by flattery. She knows she can wheedle almost anything she wants from her father.

phlegmatic

calm; not easily disturbed The nurse was a cheerful but phlegmatic person, unexcited in the face of sudden emergencies.

sedative

calming drug or influence It is dangerous to drive after taking the sedative; it brings drowsiness.

venal

capable of being bribed The venal policeman accepted the bribe offered him by the speeding motorist whom he had stopped.

reparable

capable of being repaired Fortunately, the damages we suffered in the accident were reparable and our car looks brand new.

malleable

capable of being shaped by pounding Gold is a malleable metal.

tensile

capable of being stretched Mountain climbers must know the tensile strength of their ropes.

whimsical

capricious; fanciful. He dismissed his generous gift to his college as a sentimental fancy, an old man's whimsical gesture.

thrifty

careful about money; economical A thrifty shopper compares prices before making major purchases.

negligence

carelessness negligence can prove costly near complicated machinery.

scabbard

case for a sword blade; sheath The drill master told the recruit to wipe the blood from his sword before slipping it back into the scabbard.

quiver

case for arrows Robin Hood reached back and plucked one last arrow from his quiver.

slough

cast off Each spring, the snake sloughs off its skin.

offhand

casual; done without prior thought Expecting to be treated with due propriety by her costs, Great-Aunt Maud was offended by their offhand manner.

pander

cater to the low desires of others The reviewer accused the makers of Lethal Weapon of pandering to the masses' taste of violence.

stultify

cause to appear or become stupid or inconsistent; frustrate or hinder His long hours in the blacking factory left young Dickens numb and incurious, as if the menial labor had stultified his mind.

supersede

cause to be set aside; replace This regulation will supersede all previous rules.

nauseate

cause to become sick; fill with disgust The foul smells began to nauseate him.

prompt

cause; provoke; provide a cue for an actor Whatever prompted you to ask for such a big piece of cake when you're on a diet?

pestilential

causing plague; baneful People were afraid to explore the pestilential swap.

pathetic

causing sadness, compassion, pity; touching Everyone in the auditorium was weeping by the time he finished his pathetic tale about the orphaned boy.

prudent

cautious; careful A miser hoards money not because he is prudent but because he is greedy.

luminary

celebrity; dignitary A leading light of the American stage, Ethel Barrymore was a theatrical luminary whose name lives on.

reprove

censure; rebuke The principal reproved the students when they became unruly in the auditorium.

pivotal

central; critical De Klerk's decision to set Nelson Mandela free was pivotal; without Mandela's release, there was no possibility that the African National Cogress would entertain talks with the South African government.

mace

ceremonial staff; clublike medieval weapon The Grand Marshal of the parade raised his mace to signal that it was time for the procession to begin.

ordination

ceremony conferring holy orders The candidate for ordination had to meet with the bishop and the diocean officers before being judged ready to be ordained a deacon.

shackle

chain; fetter The criminal's ankles were shackled to prevent his escape.

veer

change in direction After what seemed an eternity, the wind veered to the east and the storm abated.

metamorphosis

change of form The metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly is typical of many such changes in animal life.

vicissitude

change of fortune Humbled by life's vicissitudes, the last emperor of China worked as a lowly gardener in the palace over which he had once ruled.

ossify

change or harden into bone When he called his opponent a "bonehead," he implied that his adversary's brain had ossified and that he was not capable of clear thinking.

transmute

change; convert to something different He was unable to transmute his dreams into actualities.

volatile

changeable; explosive; evaporating rapidly The political climate today is extremely volatile: no one can predict what the electorate will do next.

mutable

changing in form; fickle His opinion were mutable and easily influenced by anyone who had any powers of persuasion.

migrant

changing its habitat; wandering These migrant birds return every spring.

sear

char or burn; brand Accidentally brushing against the hot grill, she seared her hand badly.

temperament

characteristic frame of mind; disposition; emotional excess Although the twins look alike, they differ markedly in temperament: Tod is calm, but Rod is excitable.

pristine

characteristic of earlier times; primitive, unspoiled This area has been preserved in all its pristine wildness.

universal

characterizing or affecting all; present everywhere At first, no one shared Christopher's opinions; his theory that the world was round was met with universal disdain.

mountebank

charlatan; boastful pretender The patent medicine man was a mountebank.

quack

charlatan; impostor Do not be misled by the exorbitant claims of this quack; he cannot cure you.

talisman

charm She wore the talisman to ward off evil.

tawdry

cheap and gaudy He won a few tawdry trinkets in Coney Island.

swindler

cheat She was gullible and trusting, an easy victim for the first swindler who came along.

stanch

check flow of blood It is imperative that we stanch the gushing wound before we attend to the other injuries.

stem

check the flow The paramedic used a tourniquet to stem the bleeding from the slashed artery.

sanguine

cheerful; hopeful Let us not be too sanguine about the outcome; something could go wrong.

masticate

chew We must masticate our food carefully and slowly in order to avoid digestive disorders.

ruminate

chew the cud; ponder We cannot afford to wait while you ruminate upon these plans.

puerile

childish His puerile pranks sometimes offended his more mature friends.

progeny

children; offspring He was proud of his progeny but regarded George as the most promising of all his children.

prelate

church dignitary The archbishop of Moscow and other high-ranking prelates visited the Russian Orthodox seminary.

rotunda

circular building or hall covered with a dome His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Capitol.

obsidian

clak volcanic rock The deposits of obsidian on the mountain slopes were an indiacation that volcano had erupted in ancient times.

vociferous

clamorous; noisy The crowd grew vociferous in its anger and threatened to take the law into its own hands.

talon

claw of bird The falconer wore a leather gauntlet to avoid being clawed by the hawk's talons.

purge

clean by removing impurities; clear of changes If you are to be purged of the charge of contempt of Congress, you must be willing to answer the questions previously asked.

vindicate

clear of charges I hope to vindicate my client and return him to society as a free man.

perspicuity

clearness of expression; freedom from ambiguity One of the outstanding features of this book is the perspicuity of its author; her meaning is always clear.

repartee

clever reply He was famous for his witty repartee and his sarcasm.

shrewd

clever; astute A shrewd investor, he took clever advantage of the fluctuations of the stock market.

precipice

cliff; dangerous position Suddenly Indiana Jones found himself dangling from the edge of a precipice.

scale

climb up; ascend To locate a book on the top shelf of the stacks, Lee had to scale an exceptionally rickety ladder.

raiment

clothing "How can I go to the ball?" asked Cinderella. "I have no raiment fit to wear."

saccharine

cloyingly sweet She tried to ingratiate herself, speaking sweetly and smiling a saccharine smile.

lout

clumsy person The delivery boy is an awkward lout.

maladroit

clumsy; bungling In his usual maladroit way, he managed to upset the cart and spill the food.

spectrum

colored band produced when a beam of light passes through a prism The visible portion of the spectrum includes red at one end and violet at the other.

pigment

coloring matter Van Gogh mixed various pigments with linseed oil to create his paints.

militant

combative; bellicose Althoughat this time he was advocating a policy of neutrality, one could usually find him adopting a more militant attitude.

pugnacious

combative; disposed to fight As a child he was pugnacious and fought with everyone.

merger

combination (of two business corporations) When the firm's president married the director of financial planning, the office joke was that it wasn't a marriage, it was a merger.

synthesis

combining parts into a whole Now that we have succeeded in isolating this drug, our next problem is to plan its synthesis in the laboratory.

solace

comfort in trouble I hope you will find solace in the thought that all of us share your loss.

malapropism

comic misuse of a word When Mrs. Malaprop criticizes Lydia for being "as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile," she confuses "allegory" and "allegator" in a typical malapropism.

travesty

comical parody; treatment aimed at making something appear ridiculous The ridiculous decision the jury has arrived at is a travesty of justice.

ordain

command; arrange; consecrate The king ordained that no foreigner should be allowed to enter the city.

memorialize

commemorate Let us memorialize his great contribution by dedicating this library in his honor.

perpetrate

commit an offense Only an insane person could perpetrate such a horrible crime.

plebeian

common; pertaining to the common people His speeches were aimed at the plebeian minds and emotions; they disgusted the more refined.

tumult

commotion; riot; noise She could not make herself heard over the tumult of the mob.

simile

comparison of one thing with another, using the word like or as "My love is like a red, red rose" is a simile.

remunerative

compensating; rewarding I find my new work so renumerative that I may not return to my previous employment.

unanimity

complete agreement We were surprised by the unanimity with which our proposals were accepted by the different groups.

sedate

composed; grave The parents were worried because they felt their son was too quiet and sedate.

mercantile

concerning trade I am more interested in the opportunites available in the mercantile field than I am in those in the legal profession.

terse

concise; abrupt; pithy I admire his terse style of writing; he comes directly to the point.

pithy

concise; meaty I enjoy reading his essays because they are always compact and pithy.

peroration

conclusion of an oration The peroration was largely hortatory and brought the audience to its feet clamoring for action at its close.

parley

conference The peace parley has not produced the anticipated truce.

validate

confirm; ratify I will not publish my findings until I validate my results.

turmoil

confusion; strife Conscious he had sinned, he was in a state of spiritual turmoil.

nexus

connection I fail to see the nexus that binds these two widely separated events.

subjugate

conquer; bring under control It is not our aim to subjugate our foe; we are interested only in establishing peaceful relations.

scrupulous

conscientious; extremely thorough I can recommend him for a position of responsibility for I have found him a very scrupulous young man.

prominent

conspicuous; notable; protruding Have you ever noticed that Prince Charles's prominent ears make him resemble the big-eared character in Mad comics?

solecism

construction that is flagrantly incorrect grammatically I must give this paper a failing mark because it contains many solecisms.

trough

container for feeding farm animals; lowest point (of a wave, business cycle, etc.) The hungry pigs struggled to get at the fresh swill in the trough. The surfer rode her board, coasting along in the trough between two waves.

tainted

contaminated; corrupt Health authorities are always trying to prevent the sale and use of tainted food.

supercilious

contemptuous; haughty I prefer Jill's modesty to Jack's supercilious and arrogant attitude.

vie

contend; compete Politicians vie with one another, competing for donations and votes.

restraint

controlling force She dreamt of living an independent life, free of all restraints.

polemic

controversy; argument in support of point of view Her essays were, for the main part, polemics for the party's policy.

replica

copy Are you going to hang this replica of the Declaration of Independence in the classroom or in the auditorium?

transcribe

copy When you transcribe your notes, please send a copy to Mr.Smith and keep the original for our files.

rectify

correct I want to rectify my error before it is too late.

reconcile

correct inconsistencies; become friendly after a quarrel Every time we try to reconcile our checkbook with the bank statement, we quarrel. However, despite these monthly lovers' quarrels, we always manage to reconcile.

orthography

correct spelling Many of us find English orthography difficult to master because so many of our words are written phonetically.

vitriolic

corrosive; sarcastic Such vitriolic criticism is uncalled for.

perversion

corruption; turning from right to wrong Inasmuch as he had no motive for his crimes, we could not understand his perversion.

mentor

counselor; teacher During this very trying period, she could not have had a better mentor, for the teacher was sympathetic and understanding.

recrimination

countercharges Loud and angry recriminations were her answer to his accusations.

yokel

country bumpkin. At school, his classmates regarded him as a yokel and laughed at his rustic mannerisms.

pluck

courage Even the adversaries of young Indiana Jones were impressed by the boy's pluck in trying to rescue the archeological treasure they had stolen.

mettle

courage; spirit When challenged by the other horses in the race, the thoroughbred proved its mettle by its determination to hold the lead.

tribunal

court of justice The decision of the tribunal was final and the prisoner was sentenced to death.

pusillanimous

cowardly; fainthearted You should be ashamed of your pusillanimous conduct during this dispute.

quail

cower; lose heart He was afraid that he would quail in the face of danger.

machiavellian

crafty; double-dealing I do not think he will be a good embassador because he is not accustomed to the machiavellian maneuverings of foreign diplomats.

zany

crazy; comic. I can watch the Marx brothers' zany antics for hours.

statutory

created by statute or legislative action The judicial courts review and try statutory crimes.

malefactor

criminal We must try to bring these malefactors to justice.

stricture

critical comments; severe and adverse criticism His strictures on the author's style are prejudiced and unwarranted.

pan

criticize harshly Hoping for a rave review of his new show, the playwright was miserable when the critics panned it unanimously.

throng

crowd Throngs of shoppers jammed the aisles.

pulverize

crush or grind into very small particles Before sprinkling the dried herbs into the stew, Michael first pulverized them into a fine powder.

wily

cunning; artful. She is as wily as a fox in avoiding trouble.

therapeutic

curative Now better known for its racetrack, Saratoga Springs first gained attention for the therapeutic qualities of its famous "healing waters."

panacea

cure-all; remedy for all diseases There is no easy panacea that will solve our complicated international situation.

malediction

curse The witch uttered maledictions against her captors.

wont

custom; habitual procedure. As was his wont, he jogged two miles every morning before going to work.

mores

customs The mores of Mexico are those of Spain with some modifications.

prune

cut away; trim With the help of her editor, she was able to prune her manuscript into publishable form.

retrench

cut down; economize If they were to be able to send their children to college, they would have to retrench.

truncate

cut the top off The top of the cone that has been truncated in a plane parallel to its base is a circle.

trenchant

cutting; keen I am afraid of his trenchant wit for it is so often sarcastic.

quotidian

daily; commonplace; customary To Philip, each new day of his internship was filled with excitement; he could not dismiss his rounds as merely quotidian routine.

marred

damaged; disfigured She had to refinish the marred surface of the table.

perdition

damnation; complete ruin Praying for salvation, young Daedalus feared he was damned to eternal perdition.

swarthy

dark; dusky Despite the stereotype, not all Italians are swarthy; many are fair and blond.

opaque

dark; not transparent The opaque window kept the sunlight out of the room.

obscure

dark; vague; unclear Even after I read the poem a fourth time, its meaning was still obscure.

obscure

darken; make unclear At times he seemed purposely to obscure his meaning, preferring mystery to clarity.

murkiness

darkness; gloom The murkiness and fog of the waterfront that evening depressed me.

reverie

daydream; musing He was awakened from his reverie by the teacher's question.

stalemate

deadlock Negotiations between the union and the employers have reached a stalemate; neither side is willing to budge from previously stated positions.

obituary

dealth notice I first learned of her death when I read the obituary in the newspaper.

resolve

decide; settle; solve Homes resolved to travel to Bohemia to resolve the dispute between Irene Adler and the King.

manifesto

declaration; statement of policy The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels proclaimed the principles of modern communism.

ordinance

decree Passing a red light is a violation of a city ordinance.

tureen

deep dish for serving soup The waiters brought the soup to the tables in silver tureens.

slander

defamation; utterance of false and malicious statements Unless you can prove your allegations, your remarks constitute slander.

rampart

defensive mound on earth "From the ramparts we watched" as the fighting continued.

mulct

defraud a person of something The lawyer was accused of trying to mulct the boy of his legacy.

respite

delay in punishment; interval of relief; rest The judge granted the condemned man a respite to enable his attorneys to file an appeal.

tarry

delay; dawdle We can't tarry if we want to get to the airport on time.

render

deliver; provide; represent He rendered aid to the needy and indigent.

peremptory

demanding and leaving no choice From Jack's peremptory knock on the door, Jill could tell he would not give up until she let him in.

negation

denial I must accept his argument since you have been unable to present any negation of his evidence.

nihilism

denial of traditional values; total skepticism nihilism holds that existence has no meaning.

panoramic

denoting an unobstructed and comprehensive view On a clear day, from the top of the World Trade Center you can get a panoramic view of New York City and neighboring stretches of New Jersey and Long Island.

renege

deny; go back on He reneged on paying off his debt.

turpitude

depravity A visitor may be denied admittance to this country if she has been guilty of moral turpitude.

posterity

descendants; future generations We hope to leave a better world to posterity.

renegade

deserter; traitor Because he had abandoned his post and joined forces with the Indians, his fellow officers considered the hero of Dances with Wolves a renegade.

reprehensible

deserving blame Your vicious conduct in this situation is reprehensible.

venerable

deserving high respect We do not mean to be disrespectful when we refuse to follow the advice of our venerable leader.

scurvy

despicable; contemptible Peter Pan sneered at Captain Hook and his scurvy crew.

raze

destroy completely The owners intend to raze the hotel and erect an office building on the site.

obliterate

destroy completely The tidal wave obliterated several island villages.

swerve

deviate; turn aside sharply The car swerved wildly as the driver struggled to regain control of the wheel.

sensual

devoted to the pleasures of the senses; carnal; voluptous I cannot understand what caused him to drop his sensual way of life and become so ascetic.

pious

devout The pious parents gave their children a religious upbringing.

piety

devoutness; reverence for God Living her life in prayer and good works, Mother Teresa exemplifies the true sprit of piety.

sleight

dexterity The magician amazed the audience with his sleight of hand.

malicious

dictated by hatred or spite The malicious neighbor spread the gossip.

quarry

dig into They quarried blocks of marble out of the hillside.

unearth

dig up When they unearthed the city, the archeologists found many relics of an ancient civilization.

quandary

dilemma When the two colleges to which he had applied accepted him, he was in a quandary as to which one he should attend.

sedulous

diligent The young woman was so sedulous that she received a commendation for her hard work.

sap

diminish; undermine The element kryptonite had an unhealthy effect on Superman: it sapped his strength.

refectory

dining hall In this huge refectory, we can feed the entire student body at one sitting.

protocol

diplomatic etiquette We must run this state dinner according to protocol if we are to avoid offending any of our guests.

rebate

discount We offer a rebate of ten percent to those who pay cash.

sardonic

disdainful; sarcastic; cynical The sardonic humor of nightclub comedians who satirize or ridicule patrons in the audience strikes some people as amusing and others as rude.

virus

disease communicator The doctors are looking for a specific medicine to control this virus.

unravel

disentangle; solve With equal ease Miss Marple unraveled tangled balls of yarn and baffling murder mysteries.

unkempt

disheveled; with uncared-for appearance The beggar was dirty and unkempt.

skulduggery

dishonest behavior The investigation into municipal corruption turned up new instances of skulduggery daily.

unruly

disobedient; lawless The only way to curb this unruly mob is to use tear gas.

repudiate

disown; disavow He announced that he would repudiate all debts incurred by his wife.

provident

displaying foresight; thrifty; preparing for emergencies In his usual provident manner, he had insured himself against this type of loss.

sanctimonious

displaying ostentatious or hypocritical devoutness You do not have to be so sanctimonious to prove that you are devout.

notoriety

disrepute; ill fame To the starlet, any publicity was good publicity: if she couldn't have a good reputation, she'd settle for notoriety.

profilgate

dissipated; wasteful; licentious In this profilgate company, she lost all sense of decency.

unsavory

distasteful; morally offensive People with unsavory reputations should not be allowed to work with young children.

tribulation

distress; suffering After all the trials and tribulations we have gone through, we need this rest.

perturb

disturb greatly I am afraid this news will perturb him and cause him grief.

ramify

divide into branches or subdivisions When the plant begins to ramify, it is advisable to nip off most of the new branches.

stratified

divided into classes; arranged into strata As the economic gap between the rich and the poor increased, Roman society grew increasingly stratified.

stanza

division of a poem Do you know the last stanza of "The Star-Spangled Banner"?

severance

division; partition; separation The severance of church and state is a basic principle of our government.

schism

division; split Let us not widen the schism by further bickering.

vertigo

dizziness We test potential plane pilots for susceptibility to spells of vertigo.

tractable

docile You will find the children in this school very tractable and willing to learn.

quay

dock; landing place Because of the captain's carelessness, the ship crashed into the quay.

podiatrist

doctor who treats ailments of the feet He consulted a podiatrist about his fallen arches.

tenet

doctrine; dogma The agnostic did not accept the tenets of their faith.

nocturnal

done at night Mr. Jones obtained a watchdog to prevent the nocturnal raids on his chicken coops.

potion

dose (of liquid) Tristan and Lsolde drink a love potion in the first act of the opera.

misgivings

doubts Hamlet described his misgivings to Horatio but decided to fence with Laertes despite his foreboding of evil.

oratorio

dramatic poem set to music The Glee Club decided to present an oratorio during their recital.

pensive

dreamily thoughtful; thoughtful with a hint of sadness The pensive youth gazed at the painting for a long time and then sighed.

primp

dress or groom oneself with care She primps for hours before a dance.

tipple

drink (alcoholic beverages) frequently He found that his most enjoyable evenings occurred when he tippled with his friends at the local pub.

swill

drink greedily Singing, "Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum," Long John Silver and his fellow pirates swilled their grog.

quaff

drink with relish As we quaffed our ale, we listened to the gay songs of the students in the tavern.

repellent

driving away; unattractive Mosquitoes find the odor so repellent that they leave any spot where this liquid has been sprayed.

propulsive

driving forward The jet plane has a greater propulsive power than the engine-driven plane.

provender

dry food; fodder I am afraid of a severe winter because I have stored a large quantity of provender for the cattle.

prosaic

dull and unimaginative; matter-of-fact; factual Though the ad writers had come up with a highly creative campaign to publicize the company's newest product, the head office rejected it for a more prosaic, down-to-earth approach.

stolidity

dullness; impassivenss The earthquake shattered his usual stolidity; trembling, he crouched on the no longer stable ground.

zeal

eager enthusiasm. Wang's zeal was contagious; soon all his fellow students were busily making posters, inspired by his ardent enthusiasm for the cause.

palliate

ease pain; make less severe or offensive If we cannot cure this disease at present, we can, at least try to palliate the symptoms.

timid

easily frightened; apprehensive He was timid and cowardish; always backing up at daunting situations.

queasy

easily nauseated; squeamish As the ship left the harbor, he became queasy and thought that he was going to suffer from seasickness.

lucid

easily understood; clear; intelligible Her explanation was lucid enought for a child to grasp.

omnivorous

eating both plant and animal food; devouring everything Some animals, including humans, are omnivorous and eat both meat and vegetables; others are either carnivorous or herbivorous.

reverberate

echo; resound The entire valley reverberated with the sound of the church bells.

resonant

echoing; resounding; deep and full in sound The deep, resonant voice of the actor James Earl Jones makes him particulary effective when he appears on stage.

periphery

edge, especially of a round surface He sensed that there was something just beyond the periphery of his vision.

maudlin

effusively sentimental I do not like such maudlin pictures. I call them tearjerkers.

ovoid

egg-shaped At Easter she had to cut out hundreds of brightly colored ovoid shapes.

resilient

elastic; having the power of springing back Highly resilient, steel makes excellent bedsprings.

manumit

emancipate; free from bondage Enlightened slave owners were willing to manumit their slaves and thus put an end to the evil slavery in the country.

reek

emit (odor) The room reeked with stale tobacco smoke.

underscore

emphasize Adressing the jogging class, Kim underscored the importance to runners of good nutrition.

vacuous

empty; lacking in ideas; stupid The candidate's vacuous remarks annoyed the audience, who had hoped to hear more than empty platitudes

weather

endure the effects of weather or other forces. He weathered the changes in his personal life with difficulty, as he had no one in whom to confide.

worldly

engrossed in matters of this earth; not spiritual. You must leave your worldly goods behind you when you go to meet your Maker.

savor

enjoy; have a distinctive flavor, smell, or quality Relishing his triumph, Costner especially savored the chagrin of the critics who had predicted his failure.

prodigious

enormous; marvelous He marveled at her prodigious appetite when he saw all the food she ate.

mire

entangle; stick in swampy ground Their rear wheels became mired in mud.

regale

entertain John regaled us with tales of his adventures in Africa.

verve

enthusiasm; liveliness She approached her studies with such verve that it was impossible for her to do poorly.

ovation

enthusiastic applause When Placido Domingo came on stage in the first act of La Boheme, he was greeted by a tremendous ovation.

suppliant

entreating; beseeching He could not resist the dog's suppliant whimpering, and he gave it some food.

milieu

environment; means of expression His milieu is watercolors, although he has produced excellent oil paintings and lithographs.

tantamount

equal Your ignoring their pathetic condition is tantamount to the murder.

parity

equality; close resemblance I find your analogy inaccurate because I do not see the parity between the two illustrations.

paraphernalia

equipment; odds and ends His desk was cluttered with paper, pen, ink, dictionary and other paraphernalia of the writing craft.

quibble

equivocate; play on words Do not quibble; I want a straightforward and definite answer.

misapprehension

error; misunderstanding To avoid msapprehension, I am going to ask all of you to repeat the instructions I have given.

substantive

essential; pertaining to the substance Although the delegates were aware of the importance of the problem, they could not agree on the substantive issues.

perpetual

everlasting Ponce de Leon hoped to find perpetual youth.

sinister

evil We must defeat the sinister forces that seek our downfall.

precise

exact If you don't give me precise directions and a map, I'll never find your place.

sublime

exalted; noble; uplifting Mother Teresa has been honored for her sublime deeds.

scrutinize

examine closely and critically Searching for flaws, the sergeant scrutinized every detail of the private's uniform.

surpass

exceed Her SAT scores surpassed out expectations.

transcend

exceed; surpass This accomplishment transcends all our previous efforts.

meticulous

excessively careful He was meticulous in checking his accounts and never made mistakes.

uxorious

excessively devoted to one's wife His friends laughed at him because he was so uxorious and submissive to his wife's desires.

obese

excessively fat It is advisable that obese people try to lose weight.

tightwad

excessively frugal person; miser Jill called Jack a tightwad because he never picked up the check.

rapacious

excessively grasping; plundering Hawks and other rapacious birds prey on variety of small animals.

prude

excessively modest or proper person The X-rated film was definitely not for prudes.

ornate

excessively or elaborately decorated Furniture of the Baroque period can be recognized by its ornate carvings.

ostracize

exclude from public favor; ban As soon as the newspapers carried the story of his connection with the criminals, his friends began to ostracize him.

pretext

excuse He looked for a good pretext to get out of paying a visit to his aunt.

subsistence

existence; means of support; livelihood In those days of inflated prices, my salary provided mere subsistence.

primordial

existing at the beginning (of time); rudimentary The Neanderthal Man is one of our primordial ancestors.

politic

expedient; prudent; well devised Even though he was disappointed, he did not think it politic to refuse the offer.

oust

expel; drive out The world wondered if Aquino would be able to oust Marcos from office.

sustain

experience; support; nourish He sustained such a severe injury that the doctors feared he would be unable to work to sustain his growing family.

seasoned

experienced Though pleased with her new batch of rookies, the basketball coach wished she had a few more seasoned players on the team.

probe

explore with tools The surgeon probed the wound for foreign matter before suturing it.

traduce

expose to slander His opponents tried to traduce the candidate's reputation by spreading rumors about his past.

vent

express; utter He vented his wrath on his class.

prolong

extend; draw out; lengthen In their determination to discover ways to prolong human life, doctors fail to take into account that longer lives are not always happier ones.

tirade

extended scolding; denunciation Long before he had finished his tirade, we were sufficiently aware of the seriousness of our misconduct.

pterodactyl

extinct flying reptile The remains of pterodactyls indicate that these flying reptiles had a wingspan of as much as twenty feet.

penury

extreme poverty When his pension fund failed, George feared he would end his days in penury.

opulence

extreme wealth; luxuriousness; abundance The glitter and opulence of the ballroom took Cinderella's breath away.

overwrought

extremely agitated; hysterical When Kate heard the news of the sudden tragedy, she became too overwrought to work and had to leave the office early.

parched

extremely dry; very thirsty The parched desert landscape seemed hostile to life.

prohibitive

extremely high (of prices etc.) The super computer's price was prohibitive.

ravenous

extremely hungry The revenous dog upset several garbage pails in its search for food.

stentorian

extremely loud The town crier had stentorian voice.

virulent

extremely poisonous The virus is highly virulent and has made many of us ill for days.

minute

extremely small The twins resembled one another closely; only minute differences set them apart.

minuscule

extremely small Why should I involve myself with a project with so minuscule a chance for success?

physiognomy

face He prided himself on his ability to analyze a person's character by studying his physiognomy.

visage

face; appearance The stern visage of the judge indicated that she had decided to impose a severe penalty.

philanderer

faithless lover; flirt Swearing he had never so much as looked at another woman, Jack assured Jill he was no philanderer.

ravel

fall apart into tangles; unravel or untwist; entangle A sigle thread pulled loose, and the entire scarf started to ravel.

relapse

fall back or sink again The economy relapsed into a depression from the peak.

plummet

fall sharply Stock prices plummeted as Wall Street reacted to the rise in interest rates.

windfall

fallen fruit; unexpected lucky event. This huge tax refund is quite a windfall.

perjury

false testimony while under oath When several witnesses appeared to challenge his story, he was indicted for perjury.

spurious

false; counterfeit; forged; illogical The hero of Jonathan Gash's mystery novels is an antique dealer who gives the reader advice on how to tell spurious antiques from the real things.

renown

fame For many years an unheralded researcher, Barbara McClintock gained international renown when she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.

zealot

fanatic; person who shows excessive zeal. It is good to have a few zealots in our group for their enthusiasm is contagious.

modish

fashionable She always discarded all garments that were no longer modish.

splice

fasten together; unite Before you splice two strips of tape together, be sure to line them up evenly.

patriarch

father and ruler of a family or tribe In many primitive tribes, the leader and lawmaker was the patriarch.

propitious

favorable; kindly I think it is advisable that we wait for a more propitious occasion to announce our plans; this is not a good time.

nepotism

favoritism (to a relative) John left his position with the company because he felt that advancement was based on nepotism rather than ability.

xenophobia

fear or hatred of foreigners. When the refugee arrived in America, he was unprepared for the xenophobia he found there.

trepidation

fear; trembling agitation We must face the enemy without trepidation if we are to win this battle.

timorous

fearful; demonstrating fear His timorous manner betrayed the fear he felt at the moment.

practicable

feasible The board of directors decided that the plan was practicable and agreed to undertake the project.

simulate

feign He simulated insanity in order to avoid punishment for his crime.

visceral

felt in one's inner organs She disliked the visceral sensations she had whenever she rode the roller coaster.

vixen

female fox; ill-tempered woman Aware that she was right once again, he lost his temper and called her a shrew and a vixen.

luxuriant

fertile; abundant; ornate Farming was easy in this luxuriant soil.

mercurial

fickle; changing He was of a mercurial temperament and therefore unpredictable.

melee

fight The captain tried to ascertain the cause of the melee that had broken out among the crew members.

replenish

fill up again Before she could take another backpacking trip, Carla had to replenish her stock of freeze-dried foods.

replete

filled to capacity; abundantly supplied The book is replete with humorous situations.

sordid

filthy; base; vile The social worker was angered by the sordid housing provided for the homeless.

ultimate

final; not susceptible to further analysis Scientists are searching for the ultimate truths.

purchase

firm grasp or footing The mountaineer struggled to get a proper purchase on the slippery rock.

tenacity

firmness; persistency; adhesiveness It is extremely difficult to overcome the tenacity of a habit such as smoking.

tantrum

fit of petulance; caprice The child learned that he could have almost anything if he went into tantrums.

paroxysm

fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage When he heared of his son's misdeeds, he was seized by a paroxysm of rage.

spasmodic

fitful; periodic The spasmodic coughing in the auditorium annoyed the performers.

propriety

fitness; correct conduct I want you to behave at this dinner with propriety; don't embarass me.

moodiness

fits of depression or gloom We could not discover the cause of her recurrent moodiness.

rig

fix or manipulate The ward boss was able to rig the election by bribing people to stuff the ballot boxes with ballots marked in his candidate's favor.

obsession

fixed idea; continued brooding This obsession with the supernatural has made him unpopular with his neighbors.

panache

flair; flamboyance Many performers imitate Noel Coward, but few have his panache and sense of style.

meretricious

flashy; tawdry; falsely attractive Her jewels were inexpensive but not meretricious.

sherbet

flavored dessert ice I prefer raspberry sherbet to ice cream since it is less fattening.

pliant

flexible; easily influenced Catherine's disposition was pliant; she was like putty in her suitor's hands.

supple

flexible; pliant The angler found a supple limb and used it as a fishing rod.

pliable

flexible; yielding; adaptable In remodeling the bathroom, we replaced all the old, rigid lead pipes with new, pliable copper tubing.

sleazy

flimsy; unsubstantial This is a sleazy fabric; it will not wear well.

parquet

floor made of wood strips inlaid in a mosic-like pattern. In laying the floor, the carpenters combined redwood and oak in an elegant parquet.

mellifluous

flowing smoothly; smooth Italian is a mellifluous language.

retinue

following; attendants The queen's retinue followed her down the aisle.

subsequent

following; later In subsequent lessons, we shall take up more difficult problems.

victuals

food I am very happy to be able to provide you with these victuals; I know you are hungry.

viand

food There was a variety of viands at the feast.

witless

foolish; idiotic. Such witless and fatuous statements will create the impression that you are an ignorant individual.

prognosis

forecasted course of a disease; prediction If the doctor's prognosis is correct, the patient will be in a coma for at least twenty-four hours.

paramount

foremost in importance; supreme Proper nutrition and hygiene are of paramount importance in adolescent development and growth.

precursor

forerunner Though Gray and Burns share many traits with the Romantic poets who followed them, most critics consider them precursors of the Romantic Movement, not true Romantics.

vanguard

forerunners; advance forces We are the vanguard of a tremendous army that is following us.

presage

foretell The vultures flying overhead presaged the discovery of the corpse in the desert.

portend

foretell; presage The king did not know what these omens might portend and asked his soothsayers to interpret them.

oracular

foretelling; mysterious Oedipus could not understand the oracular warning he received.

premonition

forewarning We ignored these premonitions of disaster because they appeared to be based on childish fears.

oblivion

forgetfulness Her work had fallen into a state of oblivion; no one bothered to read them.

venial

forgivable; trivial We may regard a hugry man's stealing as a venial crime.

polity

form of government of nation or state Our polity should be devoted to the concept that the government should strive for the good of all citizens.

satire

form of literature in which irony, sarcasm, and ridicule are employed to attack vice and folly Gulliver's Travels, which is regarded by many as a tale for children, is actually a bitter satire attacking human folly.

panegyric

formal praise The modest hero blushed to hear the speakers delivering panegyrics about his valorous act.

predecessor

former occupant of a post I hope I can live up to the fine example set by my late predecessor in this office.

redoubtable

formidable; causing fear During the Cold War period, neighboring countries tried not to offend the Russians because they could be redoubtable foes.

shard

fragment, generally of pottery The archaeologist assigned several students the task of reassembling earthenware vessels from the shards he had brought back from the expedition.

rubble

fragments Ten years after World War II, some of the rubble left by enemy bombings could still be seen.

redolent

fragrant; odorous; suggestive of an odor Even though it is February, the air is redolent of spring.

repine

fret; complain There is no sense repining over the work you have left undone.

querulous

fretful; whining His classmates were repelled by his querulous and complaining statements.

purveyor

furnisher of foodstuffs; caterer As purveyor of rare wines and viands, he traveled through France and Italy every year in search of new products to sell.

nugatory

futile; worthless This agreement is nugatory for no court will enforce it.

lope

gallop slowly As the horses loped along, we had an opportunity to admire the ever-changing scenery.

muster

gather; assemble Washington mustered his forces at Trenton.

magnanimity

generosity Noted for his magnanimity, philanthropist Eugene Lang donated millions to charity.

zephyr

gentle breeze; west wind. When these zephyrs blow, it is good to be in an open boat under a full sail.

unfeigned

genuine; real She turned so pale that I am sure her surprise was unfeigned.

seminal

germinal; influencing future developments; related to seed or semen Although Freud has generally been regarded as a seminal thinker who shaped the course of psychology, his psychoanalytic methods have come under attack recently.

orient

get one's bearings; adjust Philip spent his first day in Denver orienting himself to the city.

spectral

ghostly We were frightened by the spectral glow that filled the room.

vampire

ghostly being that sucks the blood of the living Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampires.

titanic

gigantic titanic waves beat aginst the shore during the hurricane.

relent

give in When her stern father would not relent and allow her to marry Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett eloped with her suitor.

yield

give in; surrender. The wounded knight refused to yield to his foe.

waive

give up temporarily; yield. I will waive my rights in this matter in order to expedite our reaching a proper decision.

morbid

given to unwholesome thought; gloomy These morbid speculations are dangerous; we must lighten our spirits by emphasizing more pleasant matters.

odoriferous

giving off an odor The odoriferous spices stimulated her jaded appetite.

ogle

glance coquettishly at; make eyes at Sitting for hours at the sidewalk cafe, the old gentleman would oggle the young girls and recall his youthful romances.

shimmer

glimmer intermittently The moonlight shimmered on the water as the moon broke through the clouds for a moment.

saturnine

gloomy Do not be misled by his saturnine countenance; he is not as gloomy as he looks.

somber

gloomy; depressing From the doctor's grim expression, I could tell he had somber news.

retrograde

go backwards; degenerate Instead of advancing, our civilization seems to have retrograded in ethics and culture.

traverse

go through or across When you traverse this field, be careful of the bull.

objective

goal; aim A degree in medicine was her ultimate objective.

transition

going from one state of action to another During the period of transition from oil heat to gas heat, the furnace will have to be shut off.

prosperity

good fortune; financial success; physical well-being Promising to stay together "for richer, for poorer," the newlyweds vowed to be true to one another in prosperity and hardship alike.

virtue

goodness; moral excellence; good quality A virtue carried to extremes can turn into something resembling vice; humility, for example, can degenerate into servility and spinelessness.

oligarchy

government by a few The feudal oligarchy was supplanted by an autocracy.

theocracy

government of a community by religious leaders Some Pilgrims favored the establishment of a theocracy in New England.

monarchy

government under a single hereditary ruler with varying degrees of power England today remains a monarchy.

voluptuous

gratifying the senses The nobility during the Renaissance led voluptuous lives.

raspy

grating; harsh The sergeant's raspy voice grated on the recruits' ears.

magnitude

greatness; extent It is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of his crime.

verdigris

green coating on copper which has been exposed to the weather Despite all attempts to protect the statue from the elements, it became coated with verdigris.

patina

green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by varnished painting Judging by the patina on this bronze statue, we can conclude that this is the work of a medieval artist.

verdant

green; lush in vegetation Monet's paintings of the verdant meadows were symphonies in green.

trilogy

group of three works Romain Rolland's novel Jean Christophe was first published as a trilogy.

wane

grow gradually smaller. From now until December 21, the winter solstice, the hours of daylight will wane.

proliferate

grow rapidly; spread; multiply Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage countless get-rich-quick schemes to proliferate

macabre

gruesome; grisly The city morgue is a macabre spot for the uninitiated.

warranty

guarantee; assurance by seller. The purchaser of this automobile is protected by the manufacturer's warranty that he will replace any defective part for five years or 50,000 miles.

tutelage

guardianship; training Under the tutelage of such masters of the instrument, she made rapid progress as a virtuoso.

surmise

guess I surmise that he will be late for this meeting.

remorse

guilt; self-reproach The murderer felt no remorse for his crime.

recidivism

habitual return to crime Prison reformers in the United States are disturbed by the high rate of recidivism; the number of persons serving second and third terms indicates the failure of the prisons to rehabilitate the inmates.

taciturn

habitually silent; talking a little New Englanders are reputedly taciturn people.

trite

hackneyed; commonplace Thr trite and predictable situations in many television programs alienate many viewers.

somnolent

half asleep The heavy meal and the overheated room made us all somnolent and indifferent to the speaker.

satyr

half-human, half-bestial being in the court of Dionysus, portrayed as wanton and cunning He was like a satyr in his lustful conduct.

snicker

half-stifled laugh The boy could not suppress a snicker when the teacher sat on the tack.

maul

handle roughly The rock star was mauled by his overexcited fans.

tilter

handle used to move the boat's rudder (to steer) Fearing the wind might shift suddenly and capsize the skiff, Tom kept one hand on the tilter at all times.

loiter

hang around; linger The policeman told him not to loiter in the alley.

pendant

hanging down from something Her pendant earrings glistened in the light.

noxious

harmful We must trace the source of these noxious gases before they asphyxiate us.

placebo

harmless substance prescribed as a dummy pill In a controlled experiment, fifty volunteers were given erythromycin tablets; the control group received only placebos.

raucous

harsh and shrill His raucous laughter irritated me and grated on my ears.

severity

harshness; plainness The newspapers disapproved of the severity of the sentence.

odious

hateful I find the task of punishing you most odious.

misogynist

hater of women She accused him of being a misogynist because he had been a bachelor all his life.

misogamy

hatred of marriage He remained a bachelor not because of misogamy but because of ill fate: his fiancee died before the wedding.

wan

having a pale or sickly color; pallid. Suckling asked, "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?"

serrated

having a sawtoothed edge The beech tree is one of many plants that have serrated leaves.

plausible

having a show of truth but open to doubt; specious Even though your argument is plausible, I still would like to have more proof.

tendentious

having an aim; biased; designed to further a cause The editorials in this periodical are tendentious rather than truth-seeking.

malignant

having an evil influence; virulent This is a malignant disease; we must have to use drastic measures to stop its spread.

odorous

having an odor This variety of hybrid tea rose is more odorous than the one you have in your garden.

multiform

having many forms Snowflakes are multiform but always hexagonal.

multilingual

having many languages Because they are bordered by so many countries, the Swiss people are multilingual.

versatile

having many talents; capable of working in many fields He was a versatile athlete; at college he had earned varsity letters in baseball, football, and track.

monochromatic

having only one color Most people who are color blind actually can distinguish several colors; some, however, have a truly monochromatic view of a world all in shades of gray.

rancid

having the odor of stale fat A rancid odor filled the ship's galley and nauseated the crew.

titular

having the title of an office without the obligations Although he was the titular head of the company, the real decisions were made by his general manager.

prophetic

having to do with predicting the future In interpreting Pharaoh's prophetic dream, Joseph said that the seven fat cows eaten by the seven lean cows represented seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine.

preempt

head off; forestall by acting first; appropriate for oneself; supplant Hoping to preempt any attempts by the opposition to make educational reform a hot political issue, the candidate set out her own plan to revitalize the public schools.

promontory

headland They erected a lighthouse on the promontory to warn approaching ships of their nearness to the shore.

precipitate

headlong; rash Do not be precipitate in this matter; investigate further.

salubrious

healthful Many people with hay fever move to more salubrious sections of the country during the months of August and September.

pyre

heap of combustible material, esp. for burning a corpse. The mortician put pyre on the corpse before burning a corpse.

recluse

hermit The recluse lived in a hut in the forest.

potpourri

heterogeneous mixture; medley He offered a potpourri of folk songs from many lands.

secrete

hide away or cache; produce and release a substance into an organism. The pack rat secretes odds and ends in its nest; the pancreas secretes insulin in the islets of Langerhans.

prodigy

highly gifted child; marvel Menuhin was a prodigy, performing wonders on his violin when he was barely eight years old.

virtuoso

highly skilled artist The child prodigy Yehudi Menuhin grew into a virtuoso whose virtuosity on the violin thrilled millions.

tenacious

holding fast I had to struggle to break his tenacious hold on my arm.

tenure

holding of an office; time during which such an office is held He was permanent tenure in this position and cannot be fired.

retentive

holding; having a good memory The pupil did not need to spend much time in study as he had a retentive mind.

waif

homeless child or animal. Although he already had eight cats, he could not resist adopting yet another feline waif.

vagrant

homeless wanderer Because he was a stranger in town with no visible means of support, Martin feared he would be jailed as a vagrant.

nostalgia

homesickness; longing for the past The first settlers found so much work to do that they had little time for nostalgia.

mortify

humiliate; punish the flesh She was so mortified by her blunder that she ran to her room in tears.

parody

humorous imitation; travesty We enjoyed the clever parodies of popular songs that the chorus sang.

scavenge

hunt through discarded materials for usable items; search, especially for food If you need car parts that the dealers no longer stock, try scavenging for odd bits and pieces at the auto wreckers' yards.

mesmerize

hypnotize The incessant drone seemed to mesmerize him and place him in a trance.

supposition

hypothesis; surmise I based my decision to confide in him on the supposition that he would be discreet.

quixotic

idealistic but impractical His head is in the clouds; he is constantly presenting these quixotic schemes.

mischance

ill luck By mischance, he lost his week's salary.

morose

ill-humored; sullen When we first meet Hamlet, we find him morose and depressed.

paramour

illicit lover She sought a divorce on the grounds that her husband had a paramour in another town.

utopia

imaginary land with perfect social and political system Shangri-la was the name of James Hilton's Tibetan utopia.

mimicry

imitation Her gift for mimicry was so great that her friends said that she should be in the theater.

pastiche

imitation of another's style in musical composition or in writing We cannot even say that her music is a pastiche of this or that composer; it is rather, reminiscent of many musicians.

unfledged

immature It is hard for an unfledged writer to find a sympathetic publisher.

sophomoric

immature; shallow Your sophomoric remarks are a sign of your youth and indicate that you have not given much thought to the problem.

transitoriness

impermanence Conscious that all things pass, the psalmist relates the transitoriness of happiness and fame.

pert

impertinent; forward I think your pert and impudent remarks call for an apology.

vehement

impetuous; with marked vigor He spoke with vehement eloquence in defense of his client.

metaphor

implied comparison "He soared like an eagle" is an example of a simile; "He is an eagle in flight," is a metaphor.

prestige

impression produced by achievements or reputation The wealthy man sought to obtain social prestige by contributing to popular charities.

susceptible

impressionable; easily influenced; having little resistance, as to a disease He was a very susceptible young man, and so his parents worried that he might fall into bad company.

spontaneity

impulsiveness; absence of premeditation What I liked best about Dale's parties was their spontaneity: a couple of friends would drop by, someone would pull out a fiddle or guitar, and before you knew it the party would be in full swing.

pellmell

in confusion; disorderly The excited students dashed pellmell into the stadium to celebrate the victory.

virtual

in essence; for practical purposes She is a virtual financial wizard when it comes to money matters.

vassal

in feudalism, one who held land of a superior lord The lord demanded that his vassals contribute more to his military campaign.

nominal

in name only; trifling He offered to drive her to the airport for only a nominal fee.

proclivity

inclination; natural tendency The cross old lady has a proclivity to grumble.

sadistic

inclined to cruelty If we are to improve conditions in this prison, we must first get rid of the sadistic warden.

prone

inclined to; prostrate She was prone to sudden fits of anger.

subsume

include; encompass Does the general theory of relativity contradict Newtonian physics, or is Newton's law of gravity subsumed into Einstein's larger scheme?

partial

incomplete In this issue we have published only a partial list of contributors because we lack space to acknowledge everyone.

unobtrusive

inconspicuous; not blatant The secret service agents in charge of protecting the President tried to be as unobtrusive as possible.

wax

increase; grow. With proper handling, his fortunes waxed and he became rich.

nonchalance

indifference; lack of interest Few people could understand how he could listen to the news of the tragedy with such nonchalance; the mahority regarded him as callous and unsympathetic.

mealymouthed

indirect speech; hypocritical; evasive Rather than tell Jill directly what he disliked, Jack made a few mealymouthed comments and tried to change the subject.

opportunist

individual who sacrifices principles for expediency by taking advantage of circumstances Forget about ethics! He's such an opportunist that he'll vote in favor of any deal that will give him a break.

proselytize

induce someone to convert to religion or belief In these interfaith meetings, there must be no attempt to proselytize; we must respect all points of view.

unerringly

infallibly My teacher unerringly pounced on the one typographical error in my essay.

opprobrium

infamy; vilification He refused to defend himself against the slander and opprobrium hurled against him by the newspapers; he preferred to rely on his record.

wreak

inflict. I am afraid he will wreak his vengeance on the innocent as well as the guilty.

mayhem

injury to the body The riot was marked not only by mayhem, with its attendant loss of life and limb, but also by arson and pillage.

tesselated

inlaid; mosaic I recall seeing a table with a tesselated top of bits of stone and glass in a very interesting pattern.

perceptive

insightful; aware; wise Although Maud was a generally perceptive critic, she had her blind sports: she could never see flaws in the work of her friends.

paltry

insignificant; petty This is a paltry sum to pay for such a masterpiece.

puny

insignificant; tiny; weak Our puny efforts to stop the flood were futile.

vapid

insipid; inane She delivered an uninspired and vapid address.

slur

insult to one's character or reputation; slander Polls revealed that the front-runner's standing had been damaged by the slurs and innuendoes circulated by his opponent's staff.

slight

insult to one's dignity; snub Hypersensitive and ready to take offense at any discourtesy, Bertha was always on the lookout for real or imaginary slights.

purport

intention; meaning If the purport of your speech was to arouse the rabble, you succeeded admirably.

willful

intentional; headstrong. Donald had planned to kill his wife for months; clearly, her death was a case of deliberate, willful murder, not a crime of passion committed by a hasty, willful youth unable to foresee the consequences of his deeds.

symbiosis

interdependent relationship (between groups, species), often mutually beneficial Both the crocodile bird and the crocodile derive benefit from their symbiosis; pecking away at food particles embedded in the crocodile's teeth, the bird derives nourishment; the crocodile, meanwhile, derives proper dental hygiene.

meddlesome

interfering He felt his marriage was suffering because of his meddlesome mother-in-law.

misconstrue

interpret incorrectly; misjudge She took the passage seriously rather than humourously because she misconstrued the author's ironic tone.

prelude

introduction; forerunner I am afraid that this border raid is the prelude to more serious attacks.

prefactory

introductory The chairman made a few prefactory remarks before he called on the first speaker.

preamble

introductory statement In the preamble to the Constitution, the purpose of the document is set forth.

withdrawn

introverted; remote. Rebuffed by his colleagues, the initially outgoing young researcher became increasingly withdrawn.

tonic

invigorating medicine The tonic water invigorated her, contrary to the enervating effect of the alcohol.

opalescent

iridescent The Ancient Mariner admired the opalescent sheen on the water.

testy

irritable; short-tempered My advice is to avoid discussing this problem with him today as he is rather testy and may shout at you.

rankle

irritate; fester The memory of having been jilted rankled him for years.

pique

irritation; resentment She showed her pique by her refusal to appear with the other contestants at the end of the contest.

quarantine

isolation of a person, place, or ship to prevent spread of infection We will have to place this house under quarantine until we determine the nature of the disease.

seclusion

isolation; solitude One moment she loved crowds; the next, she sought seclusion.

yoke

join together, unite. I don't wish to be yoked to him in marriage, as if we were cattle pulling a plow.

peregrination

journey Auntie Mame was a world traveler whose peregrinations took her from Tiajuana to Timbuctoo.

succulent

juicy; full of richness To some people, Florida citrus fruits are more succulent than those from California.

warrant

justify; authorize. Before the judge issues the injunction, you must convince her this action is warranted.

sagacious

keen; shrewd; having insight He is much too sagacious to be fooled by a trick like that.

shun

keep away from Cherishing his solitude, the recluse shunned the company of other human beings.

retain

keep; employ Fighting to retain his seat in Congress, Senator Foghorn retained a new manager to head his reelection campaign.

realm

kingdom; sphere The realm of possibilities for the new invention was endless.

trinket

knickknack; bauble Whenever she traveled abroad, Ethel would pick up costume jewelry and other trinkets as souvenirs.

timidity

lack of self-confidence or courage If you are to succeed as a salesperson, you must first lose your timidity and fear of failure.

spartan

lacking luxury and comfort; sternly disciplined Looking over the bare, unheated room with its hard cot, he wondered what he was doing in such spartan quarters. Only his spartan sense of duty kept him at his post.

peon

landless agricultural worker; bond servant The land reformers sought to liberate the peons and establish them as independent farmers.

parlance

language; idiom All this legal parlance confuses me; I need an interpreter.

pine

languish, decline; long for, yearn Though she tried to be happy living with Clara in the city, Heidi pined for the mountains and for her gruff but loving grandfather.

metropolis

large city Every evening this terminal is filled with the thousands of commuters who are going from this metropolis to their homes in the suburbs.

tome

large volume He spent much time in the libraries poring over ancient tomes.

salacious

lascivious; lustful Chaucer's monk is not pious but salacious, a teller of lewd tales and ribald jests.

scourge

lash; whip; severe punishment They feared the plague and regarded it as a deadly scourge.

ultimatum

last demand; warning Since they have ignored our ultimatum, our only recourse is to declare war.

terminus

last stop of railroad After we reached the railroad terminus, we continued our journey into the wilderness on saddle horses.

ludicrous

laughable; trifling Let us be serious; this is not a ludicrous issue.

profusion

lavish expenditure; overabundant condition Seldom have I seen food and drink served in such profusion as at the wedding feast.

sumptuous

lavish; rich I cannot recall when I have had such a sumptuous Thanksgiving feast.

statute

law We have many statutes in our law books which should be repealed.

shyster

lawyer using questionable methods. On L.A. Law, respectable attorney Brackman was horrified to learn that his newly discovered half brother was a cheap shyster.

spawn

lay eggs Fish ladders had to be built in the dams to assist the salmon returning to spawn in their native streams.

stratum

layer of earth's surface; layer of society Unless we alleviate conditions in the lowest stratum of our society, we may expect grumbling and revolt.

punctilious

laying stress on niceties of conduct or form; precise We must be punctilious in our planning of this affair, for any error may be regarded as a personal affront.

sloth

laziness Such sloth in a young person is deplorable; go to work!

sluggard

lazy person "You are a sluggard, a drone, a parasite," the angry father shouted at his lazy son.

pundit

learned Hindu; any learned person; authority on a subject Even though he discourses on the matter like a pundit, he is actually rather ignorant about this topic.

moratorium

legal delay of payment If we declare a moratorium and delay collection of debts for six months, I am sure the farmers will be able to meet their bills.

usury

lending money at illegal rates of interest The loan shark was found guilty of usury.

torpor

lethargy; sluggishness; dormancy Nothing seemed to arouse him from his torpor; he had wholly surrendered himself to lethargy.

rabid

like a fanatic; furious He was a rabid follower of the Dodgers and watched them play whenever he could go to the ball park.

vulpine

like a fox; crafty She disliked his sly ways, but granted him a certain vulpine intelligence.

parameter

limit; independent variable We need to define the parameters of the problem.

modicum

limited quantity Although his story is based on a modicum of truth, most of the events he describes are fictitious.

qualified

limited; restricted Unable to give the candidate full support, the mayor gave him only a qualified endorsement.

queue

line They stood patiently in the queue outside the movie theatre.

roster

list They print the roster of players in the season's program.

repertoire

list of works of music, drama, etc., a performer is prepared to present The opera company decided to include Madame Butterfly in its repertoire for the following season.

stygian

literary dark The stygian room reminded him of an empty space.

vegetate

live in a monotonous way I do not understand how you can vegetate in this quiet village after the adventurous life you have led.

vivacious

lively or animated; sprightly She had always been vivacious and sparkling.

skittish

lively; frisky She is as skittish as a kitten playing with a piece of string.

rousing

lively; stirring "And now, let's have a rousing welcome for TV's own Roseanne Arnold, who'll lead us in a rousing rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'"

patois

local or provincial dialect His years of study of the language at the university did not enable him to understand the patois of the natives.

venue

location The attorney asked for a change of venue; he thought his client would do better if the trial were held in a less conservative county.

syllogism

logical formula consisting of a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion; deceptive or specious argument There must be a fallacy in this syllogism; I cannot accept its conclusion.

valid

logically convincing; sound; legally acceptable You're going to have to come up with a better argument if you want to convince me that your reasoning is valid.

longevity

long life When he reached ninety, the old man was proud of his longevity.

odyssey

long, evenful journey The refugee's journey from Cambodia was a terrifying odyssey.

strident

loud and harsh She scolded him in a strident voice

loll

lounge about They lolled around in their chairs watching television.

sybarite

lover of luxury Rich people are not always sybarites; some of them have little taste for a life of luxury.

philanthropist

lover of mankind; doer of good As he grew older, he became famous as a philanthropist and benefactor of the needy.

nether

lower Tradition locates hell in the nether regions.

supine

lying on back The defeated pugilist lay supine on the canvas.

mendacious

lying; false He was pathological liar, and his friends learned to discount his mendacious stories.

rarefied

made less dense [of a gas] The mountain climbers had difficulty breathing in the rarefied atmosphere.

osseus

made of bone; bony The hollow "soft spot" found at the top of the infant's skull gradually closes as new osseus tissue fills in the gap.

palatial

magnificent He proudly showed us through his palatial home.

mutilate

maim The torturer threatened to mutilate his victim.

stipulate

make express conditions, specify Before agreeing to reduce American military forces in Europe, the president stipulated that NATO teams be allowed to inspect Soviet bases.

preclude

make impossible; eliminate This contract does not preclude my being employed by others at the same time that I am working for you.

promulgate

make known by official proclamation or publication As soon as the Civil Service Commission promulgates the names of the successful candidates, we shall begin to hire members of our staff.

stupefy

make numb; stun; amaze Disapproving of drugs in general, Laura refused to take sleeping pills or any other medicine that might stupefy her.

preen

make oneself tidy in appearance; feel self-satisfaction As Kitty preened before the mirror, carefully smoothing her shining hair, she couldn't help preening herself on her good looks.

obviate

make unnecessary; get rid of I hope this contribution will obviate any need for further collections of funds.

rejuvenate

make young again The charlatan claimed that his elixir would rejuvenate the aged and weary.

optician

maker and seller of eyeglasses The patient took the prescription given him by his oculist to the optician.

testator

maker of a will The attorney called in his secretary and his partner to witness the signature of the testator.

yeoman

man owing small estate; middle-class farmer. It was not the aristocrat but the yeoman who determined the nation's policies.

megalomania

mania for doing grandiose things Developers who spend millions trying to build the world's tallest skyscraper suffer from megalomania.

virile

manly I do not accept the premise that a man is virile only when he is belligerent.

variegated

many-colored Without her glasses, Gretchen saw the fields of tulips as a variegated blur.

peripheral

marginal; outer We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of the great city.

welt

mark from beating or whipping. The evidence of child abuse was very clear; Jennifer's small body was covered with welts and bruises.

uproarious

marked by commotion; extremely funny; very noisy The uproarious comedy hit Home Alone featured Macaulay Culkin, whose mugging and comic antics provoked gales of uproarious laughter from audiences coast to coast.

striated

marked with parallel bands; grooved The glacier left many striated rocks.

nubile

marrigeable Mrs. Bennet, in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, was worried about finding suitable husbands for her five nubile daughters.

requiem

mass for the dead; dirge They played Mozart's Requiem at the funeral.

mete

measure; distribute He tried to be impartial in his efforts to mete out justice.

officious

meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services After her long flight, Jill just wanted to nap, but the officious bellboy was intent on showing her all the special features of the deluxe suite.

tryst

meeting The lovers kept their tryst even though they realized their danger.

molten

melted The city of Pompeii was destroyed by volcanic ash rather than by molten lava flowing from Mount Vesuvius.

proletarian

member of the working class The aristocrats feared mob rule and gave the right to vote only to the wealthy, thus depending the proletarians of a voice in government.

minatory

menacing; threatening Jabbing a minatory forefinger at Dorothy, the Wicked Witch cried, "I'll get you, and your little dog, too!"

psychosis

mental disorder We must endeavor to find an outlet for the patient's repressed desires if we hope to combat this psychosis.

mirth

merriment; laughter Sober Malvolio found Sir Toby's mirth improper.

lode

metal-bearing vein If this lode that we have discovered extends for any distance, we have found a fortune.

regime

method or system of government When a Frenchman mentions the Old Regime, he refers to the government existing before the revolution.

misdemeanor

minor crime The culprit pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor rather than face trial for a felony.

skirmish

minor fight Custer's troops expected they might run into a skirmish or two on maneuvers; they did not expect to face a major battle.

squabble

minor quarrel; bickering Children invariably get involved in petty squabbles; wise parents know when to interfere and when to let the children work things out on their own.

misadventure

mischance; ill luck The young explorer met death by misadventure.

urchin

mischievous child (usually a boy) Get out! This store is no place for grubby urchins!

waggish

mischievous; humorous; tricky. He was a prankster who, unfortunately, often overlooked the damage he could cause with his waggish tricks.

skinflint

miser The old skinflint refused to give her a raise.

qualms

misgivings His qualms of conscience had become so great that he decided to abandon his plans.

projectile

missile Man has always hurled projectiles at his enemy whether in the form of stones or of highly explosive shells.

promiscuous

mixed indiscriminately; haphazard; irregular, particularly sexually In the opera La Boheme, we get a picture of the promiscuous life led by the young artists of Paris.

medley

mixture The band played a medley of Gershwin tunes.

miscellany

mixture of writings on various subjects This is an interesting miscellany of nineteenth-century prose and poetry.

scoff

mock; ridicule He scoffed at dentists until he had his first toothache.

satirical

mocking The humor of cartoonists Gary Trudeau often is satirical; though the comments of the Doonesbury characters, Trudeau ridicules political corruption and folly.

paragon

model of perfection The class disliked him because the teacher was always pointing him out as a paragon of virtue.

paradigm

model; example; pattern Pavlov's experiment in which he trains a dog to salivate on hearing a bell is a paradigm of the conditioned- response experiment in behavioal psychology.

temper

moderate; tone down or restrain; toughen (steel) Not even her supervisor's grumpiness could temper Nancy's enthusiasm for her new job.

sobriety

moderation (especially regarding indulgence in alcohol); seriousness Neither drunkards nor comics are noted for sobriety.

unassuming

modest He is so unassuming that some people fail to realize how great a man he really is.

retiring

modest; shy Given Susan't retiring personality, no one expected her to take up public speaking; surprisingly enough, she became a star of the school debate team.

lull

moment of calm Not wanting to get wet, they waited under the awning for a lull in the rain.

transient

momentary; temporary; staying for a short time Lexy's joy at finding the perfect Christmas gift for Phil was transient; she still had to find presents for the cousins and Uncle Bob. Located near the airport, this hotel caters to the largely transient trade.

potentate

monarch; sovereign The potentate spent more time at Monte Carlo than he did at home on his throne.

lucre

money Preferring lucre to undying fame, he wrote stories of popular appeal.

simian

monkeylike Lemurs are nocturnal mammals and have many simian characteristics, although they are less intelligent than monkeys.

low

moo From the hilltop, they could see the herd like ants in the distance; they could barely hear the cattle low.

phobia

morbid fear Her fear of flying was more than mere nervousness; it was a real phobia.

maternal

motherly Many animals display maternal instincts only while their offspring are young and helpless.

stagnant

motionless; stale; dull The stagnant water was a breeding ground for disease

mercenary

motivated solely by money or gain "I'm not in this war because I get my kicks waving flags," said the mercenary soldier. "I'm in it for the dough."

plaintive

mournful The dove has a plaintive and melancholy call

lugubrious

mournful The lugabrious howling of the dogs added to our sadness.

orifice

mouthlike opening; small opening The Howe Caverns were discovered when someone observed that a cold wind was issuing from an orifice in the hillside.

waft

moved gently by wind or waves. Daydreaming, he gazed at the leaves that wafted past his window.

turbid

muddy; having the sediment disturbed The water was turbid after the children had waded through it.

propagate

multiply; spread Since bacteria propagate more quickly in unsanitary environments, it is important to keep hospital rooms clean.

regicide

murder of a king or queen The beheading of Mary Queen of Scots was an act of regicide.

mutter

murmur or grumble The child muttered at the doll.

maim

mutilate; injure The hospital could not take care of all who had been mangled or maimed in the railroad accident.

reciprocal

mutual; exchangeable; interacting The two nations signed a reciprocal trade agreement.

occult

mysterious; secret; supernatural The occult rites of the organization were revealed only to members.

runic

mysterious; set down in an ancient alphabet Tolkien's use of Old English words and inscriptions in the runic alphabet give The Lord of the Rings its atmosphere of antiquity.

recount

narrate or tell; count over again About to recount the latest adventure of Sherlock Holmes, Watson lost track of exactly how many cases Holmes had solved and refused to begin his tale until he'd recounted them one by one.

parochial

narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes Although Jane Austen writes novels set in small rural communities, her concerns are universal, not parochial.

ravine

narrow valley with steep sides Steeper than a gully, less precipitous than a canyon, a ravine is, like them, the product of years of erosion.

philistine

narrow-minded person, uncultured and exculsively interested in material gain We need more men of culture and enlightenment; we have too many philistines among us.

sectarian

narrow-minded; limited in scope As university chaplain, she sought to address universal religious issues and not limit herself to mere sectarian concerns.

propensity

natural inclination Convinced of his own talent, Sol has an unfortunate propensity to belittle the talents of others.

sextant

navigation tool used to determine a ship's latitude and longitude Given a clear night, with the aid of his sextant and compass, he could keep the ship safely on course.

proximity

nearness The deer sensed the hunter's proximity and bounded away.

propinquity

nearness; kinship Their relationship could not be explained as being based on mere propinquity: they were more than relatives; they were true friends.

myopic

nearsighted In thinking only of your present needs and ignoring the future, you are being rather myopic.

spruce

neat and trim Every button buttoned, tie firmly in place, young Alex Keaton looked spruce and tidy for his job interview at the bank.

natty

neatly or smartly dresssed Priding himself on being a natty dresser, the gangster Bugsy Siegel collected a wardrobe of imported suits and ties.

requisite

necessary requirement Many colleges state that a student must offer three years of a language as a requisite for admission.

tautological

needlessly repetitious In the sentence "It was visible to the eye," the phrase "to the eye" is tautological.

pejorative

negative in connotation; having a belittling effect. Instead of criticizing Clinton's policies, the Republicans made pejorative remarks about his character.

remiss

negligent He was accused of being remiss in his duty when the prisoner escaped.

titter

nervous laugh Her aunt's constant titter nearly drove her mad.

seine

net for catching fish When the shad run during the spring, you may see fishermen with seines along the banks of our coastal rivers.

noncommittal

neutral; unpledged; undecided We were annoyed by his noncommittal reply for we had been led to expect definite assurances of his approval.

neologism

new or newly coined word or phrase As we invent new techniques and professions, we must also invent neologisms such as "microcomputer" and "astronaut" to describe them.

subtlety

nicety; cunning; guile; delicacy The subtlety of his remarks was unnoticed by most of his audience.

outmoded

no longer stylish; old-fahioned Unconcerned about keeping in style, Lenore was perfectly happy to wear outmoded clothes as long as they were clean and unfrayed.

optional

not compulsory; left to one's choice I was impressed by the range of optional accessories for my microcomputer that were available.

rudimentary

not developed; elementary His dancing was limited to a few rudimentary steps.

unearthly

not earthly; weird There is an unearthly atmosphere in her work that amazes the casual observer.

objective

not influenced by emotions; fair Even though he was her son, she tried to be objective about his behavior.

temporal

not lasting forever; limited by time; secular At one time in our history, temporal rulers assumed that they had been given their thrones by divine right.

theoretical

not practical or applied; hypothetical Bob was better at applied engineering and computer programming than he was at theoretical physics and math. While I can still think of some theoretical objections to your plan, you've convinced me of its basic soundness.

unrequited

not reciprocated Suffering the pangs of unrequited love, Olivia rebukes Cesario for his hard-heartedness.

marked

noticeable; targeted for vengeance He walked with a marked limp, a souvenir of an old IRA attack. As British ambassador, he knew he was a marked man.

unprecedented

novel; unparalleled Margaret Mitchell's book Gone with the Wind was an unprecedented success.

quorum

number of members necessary to conduct a meeting The senator asked for a roll call to determine whether a quorum was present.

manifold

numerous; varied I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate your manifold kindnesses.

missile

object to be thrown or projected Scientists are experimenting with guided missiles.

mandatory

obligatory These instructions are mandatory; any violation will be severely punished.

scurrilous

obscene; indecent Your scurrilous remarks are especially offensive because they are untrue.

recalcitrant

obstinately stubborn Donkeys are reputed to be the most recalcitrant of animals.

procurement

obtaining The personnel department handles the procurement of new employees.

recurrent

occurring again and again These recurrent attacks disturbed us and we consulted a physician.

sporadic

occurring irregularly Although there are still sporadic outbursts of shooting in the streets, the rebellion is essentially over.

subjective

occurring or taking place within the mind; unreal Your analysis is highly subjective; you have permitted your emotions and your opinions to color your thinking.

quaint

odd; old-fashioned; picturesque Her quaint clothes and old-fashioned language marked her as an eccentric.

piebald

of different colors; motled; spotted You should be able to identify Polka Dot in this race; he is the only piebald horse running.

obnoxious

offensive I find your behavior obnoxious; please mend your ways.

terrestrial

on or relating to the earth We have been able to explore the terrestrial regions much more thoroughly than the aquatic or celestial regions.

marsupial

one of a family of mammals that nurse their offspring in a pouch The most common marsupial in North America is the opposum.

reaper

one who harvests grain Death, the Grim Reaper, cuts down men and women, just as a farmer cuts down the ripened grain.

polygamist

one who has more than one spouse at a time He was arrested as a polygamist when his two wives filed complaints about him.

rift

opening; break The plane was lost in the stormy sky until the pilot saw the city through a rift in the clouds.

manipulate

operate with the hands; control or change by artful means How do you manipulate these puppets?

tyranny

oppression; cruel government Frederick Douglass fought against the tyranny of slavery throughout his entire life.

mandate

order; charge In his inaugural address, the President stated that he had a mandate from the people to seek an end to social evils such as poverty and poor housing.

pendant

ornament (hanging from a necklace, etc.) The grateful team presented the coach with a silver chain and pendant engraved with the school's motto.

rococo

ornate; highly decorated The rococo style in furniture and architecture, marked by scrollwork and excessive decoration, flourished during the middle of the eighteenth century.

pretentious

ostentatious; ambitious I do not feel that your limited resources will permit you to carry out such a pretentious program.

perimeter

outer boundary To find the perimeter of any quadrilateral, we add the lengths of the four sides.

uncouth

outlandish; clumsy; boorish Most biographers portray Lincoln as an uncouth and ungainly young man.

obsolete

outmoded "Hip" is an obsolete expression; it went out with love beads and tie-dye shirts.

outwit

outsmart; trick By disguising himself as an old woman, Holmes was able to outwit his pursuers and escape capture.

preeminent

outstanding; superior The king traveled to Boston because he wanted the preeminent surgeon in the field to perform the operation.

semblance

outward appearance; guise Although this book has a semblance of wisdom and scholarship, a careful examination will reveal many errors and omissions.

trappings

outward decorations; ornaments He loved the trappings of success: the limousines, the stock options, the company jet.

manifestation

outward demonstration; indication Mozart's early attraction to the harsichord was the first manifestation of his pronounced musical bent.

surmount

overcome He had to surmount many obstacles in order to succeed.

simplistic

oversimplified Though Jack's solution dealt adequately with one aspect of the problem, it was simplistic in failing to consider various complicating factors that might arise.

streotyped

oversimplified; lacking individuality; seen as a type My chief objection to the book is that the characters are stereotyped; they come across as ethnic caricatures, not as real people with individual quirks, fears, and dreams.

rave

overwhelmingly favorable review Though critic John Simon seldom has a good word to say about contemporary plays, his review of All in the Timing was a total rave.

placate

pacify; conciliate The teacher tried to placate the angry mother.

stipple

paint or draw with dots Seurat carefully stippled dabs of pure color on the canvas, juxtaposing dots of blue and yellow that the viewer's eye would interpret as green.

mauve

pale purple The mauve tint in the lilac bush was another indication that spring had finally arrived.

pallid

pale; wan Because his occupation required that he work at night and sleep during the day, he had an exceptionally pallid complexion.

mollycoddle

pamper; indulge excessively Don't mollycoddle the boy, Maud! You'll spoil him.

sere

parched; dry After the unseasonably dry winter the Berkeley hills looked dusty and sere.

palimpsest

parchment used for second time after original writing has been erased Using chemical reagents, scientists have been able to restore the original writings on many palimpsests.

proscenium

part of stage in front of curtain In the theater-in-the-round there can be no proscenium or proscenium arch.

motley

parti-colored; mixed The captain had gathered a motley crew to sail the vessel.

predilection

partiality; preference Although the artist used various media from time to time, she had a predilection for watercolors.

madrigal

pastoral song His program of folk songs included several madrigals which he sang to the accompaniment of a lute.

podium

pedestal; raised platform The audience applauded as the conductor made his way to the podium.

pseudonym

pen name Samuel Clemens' pseudonym was Mark Twain.

sage

person celebrated for wisdom Hearing tales of a mysterious Master of All Knowledge who lived in the hills of Tibet, Sandy was possessed with a burning desire to consult the legendary sage.

malcontent

person dissatisfied with existing state of affairs He was one of the few malcontents in the Congress; he constantly voiced his objections to the Presidential program.

reprobate

person hardened in sin, devoid of a sense of decency I cannot understand why he has so many admirers if he is the reprobate you say he is.

nonentity

person of no importance; nonexistence Don't dismiss John as a nonentity; in his quiet way, he's very important to the firm.

magnate

person of prominence or influence The steel magnate decided to devote more time to city politics.

supernumerary

person or thing in excess of what is necessary; extra His first appearance on the stage was as a supernumerary in a Shakespearean tragedy.

ragamuffin

person wearing tattered clothes He felt sorry for the ragamuffin who was begging for food and gave him money to buy a meal.

numismatist

person who collects coins The numismatist had a splendid collection of antique coins.

masochist

person who enjoys his own pain The masochist begs, "Hit me." The sadist smiles and says, "I won't."

stoic

person who is indifferent to pleasure or pain The doctor called her patient a stoic because he had borne the pain of the examination without whimpering.

optimist

person who looks on the bright side The pessimist says the glass is half-empty; the optimist says it is half-full.

millinery

person who makes or sells women's hats The millinery displayed fashionable hats in the street where many women passed by.

proponent

person who supports or proposes (an idea) After the bill had been amended and re-amended in committee, even its original proponents didn't want to vote in its favor.

tanner

person who turns animal hides into leather Using a solution of tanbark, the tanner treated the cowhide, transforming it into supple leather.

pyromaniac

person with an insane desire to set things on fire The detectives searched the area for the pyromaniac who had set these costly fires.

suborn

persuade to act unlawfully (especially to commit perjury) In the Godfather, the mobsters used bribery and threats to suborn the witnesses against Don Michael Corleone.

pharisaical

pertaining to Pharisees, who paid scrupulous attention to tradition; self-righteous; hypocritical Walter Lippmann has pointed out that moralists who do not attempt to explain the moral code they advocate are often regarded as pharisaical and ignored.

pontifical

pertaining to a bishop or pope; pompous or pretentious From the very beginning of his ministry it was clear from his pontifical pronouncements that John was destined for a high pontifical office.

provincial

pertaining to a province; limited in outlook; unsophisticated As provincial governor, Sir Henry administered the Queen's law in his remote corner of Canada.

traumatic

pertaining to an injury caused by violence In his nightmares, he kept on recalling the traumatic experience of being wounded in battle.

rustic

pertaining to country people; uncouth The backwoodsman looked out place in his rustic attire.

pathological

pertaining to disease As we study the pathological aspects of this disease, we must not overlook the psychological elements.

thespian

pertaining to drama Her success in the school play convinced her she was destined for a thespian career.

seismic

pertaining to earthquakes The Richter scale is a measurement of seismic disturbances.

valedictory

pertaining to farewell I found the valedictory address too long; leave-taking should be brief.

piscatorial

pertaining to fishing He spent many happy hours at the lake in his piscatorial activities.

marital

pertaining to marriage After the publication of his book on marital affairs, he was often consulted by married people on the verge of divorce.

psychopathic

pertaining to mental derangement The psychopathic patient suffers more frequently from a disorder of the nervous system than from a diseased brain.

pecuniary

pertaining to money I never expected a pecuniary reward for my work in this activity.

vitreous

pertaining to or resembling glass Although this plastic has many vitreous qualties such as transparency, it is unbreakable.

nautical

pertaining to ships or navigation The Maritime Museum contains many models of clipper ships, logbooks, anchors and many other items of a nautical nature.

metaphysical

pertaining to speculative philosophy The modern poets have gone back to the fanciful poems of the metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century for many of their images.

somatic

pertaining to the body; physical Why do you ignore the spiritual aspects and emphasize only the corporeal and the somatic ones?

pulmonary

pertaining to the lungs In his researches on pulmonary diseases, he discovered many facts about the lungs of animals and human beings.

lunar

pertaining to the moon lunar craters can be plainly seen with the aid of a small telescope.

tactile

pertaining to the organs or sense of touch His callused hands had lost their tactile sensitivity.

sensuous

pertaining to the physical senses; operating through the senses He was stimulated by the sights, sounds and smells about him; he was enjoying his sensuous experience.

physiological

pertaining to the science of the function of living organisms To understand this disease fully, we must examine not only its physiological aspects but also its psychological elements.

stellar

pertaining to the stars He was the stellar attraction of the entire performance.

supplicate

petition humbly; pray to grant a favor We supplicate Your Majesty to grant him amnesty.

obstetrician

physician specializing in delivery of babies Unlike midwives, who care for women giving birth at home, obstetricians generally work in a hospital setting.

mosaic

picture made of smell, colorful inlaid tiles The mayor compared the ciry to a beautiful mosaic made up of people of every race and religion on earth.

vignette

picture; short literary sketch The New Yorker published her latest vignette.

perforate

pierce; put a hole through Before you can open the aspirin bottle, you must first perforate the plastic safety seal that covers the cap.

ruthless

pitiless The escaped convict was a dangerous and ruthless murderer.

sheathe

place into a case As soon as he recognized the approaching men, he sheathed his dagger and hailed them as friends.

purgatory

place of spiritual expiation In this purgatory, he could expect no help from his comrades.

superimpose

place over something else Your attempt to superimpose another agency in this field will merely increase the bureaucratic nature of our government.

unequivocal

plain; obvious My answer to your proposal is an unequivocal and absolute "No."

perspicuous

plainly expressed Her perspicuous comments eliminated all posibility of misinterpretation.

premeditate

plan in advance She had premeditated the murder for months, reading about common poisons and buying weed killer that contained arsenic.

rostrum

platform for speech-making; pulpit The crowd murmured angrily and indicated that they did not care to listen to the speaker who was approaching the rostrum.

staccato

played in an abrupt manner; marked by abrupt, sharp sound His staccato speech reminded one of the sound of a machine gun.

sportive

playful Such a sportive attitude is surprising in a person as serious as you usually are.

piquant

pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating The piquant sauce added to our enjoyment of the meal.

luscious

pleasing to taste or smell The ripe peach was luscious.

scenario

plot outline; screenplay; opera libretto Scaramouche startled the other actors in the commedia troupe when he suddenly departed from their customary scenario and began to improvise.

ravage

plunder; despoil The marauding army ravaged the countryside.

predatory

plundering The hawk is a predatory bird.

solstice

point at which the sun is farthest from the equator The winter solstice usually occurs on December 21.

zenith

point directly overhead in the sky; summit. When the sun was at its zenith, the glare was not as strong as at sunrise and sunset.

perigee

point of moon's orbit when it is nearest the earth The rocket which was designed to take photographs of the moon was launched as the moon approached its perigee.

martrix

point of origin; array of numbers or algebraic symbols; mold or die Some historians claim the Nile Valley was the matrix of the Western civilization.

toxic

poisonous We must seek an antidote for whatever toxic substance he has eaten.

viper

poisonous snake The habitat of the horned viper, a particularly venomous snake, is in sandy regions like the Sahara or the Sinai peninsula.

prod

poke; stir up; urge If you prod him hard enough, he'll eventually clean his room.

verbiage

pompous array of words After we had waded through all the verbiage, we discovered that the writer had said very little.

strut

pompous walk His strut as he marched about the parade ground revealed him for what he was: a pompous buffoon.

vogue

popular fashion Jeans became the vogue on many college campuses.

permeable

porous; allowing passage through Glass is permeable to light.

vantage

position giving an advantage They fired upon the enemy from behind trees, walls and any other point of vantage they could find.

procrastinate

postpone; delay It is wise not to procrastinate; otherwise, we find ourselves bogged down in a mass of work that should have been finished long ago.

mogul

powerful person The oil moguls made great profits when the price of gasoline rose.

potent

powerful; persuasive; greatly influential The jury was swayed by the highly potent testimony of the crime's sole eyewitness.

puissant

powerful; strong; potent We must keep his friendship for he will make a puissant ally.

pragmatic

practical (as opposed to idealistic); concerned with the practical worth or impact of something This coming trip to France should provide me with a pragmatic test of the value of my conversational French class.

pragmatist

practical person No pragmatist enjoys becoming involved in a game that he can never win

precept

practical rule guiding conduct "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is a worthwhile precept.

precedent

preceding in time, rank, etc. Our discussions, precedent to this event, certainly did not give you any reason to believe that we would adopt your proposal.

nicety

precision; minute distinction I cannot distinguish between such niceties of reasoning.

prognosticate

predict I prognosticate disaster unless we change our wasteful ways.

presentiment

premonition; foreboding Hamlet felt a presentiment about his meeting with Laertes.

materialism

preoccupation with physical comforts and things By its nature, materialism is opposed to idealism, for where the materialist emphasizes the needs of the body, the idealist emphasizes the needs of the soul.

regimen

prescribed diet and habits I doubt whether the results warrant our living under such a strict regimen.

stymie

present an obstacle; stump The detective was stymied by the contradictory evidence in the robbery investigation.

overweening

presumptuous; arrogant His overweening pride in his accomplishments was not justified.

sham

pretend He shammed sickness to get out of going to school.

subterfuge

pretense; evasion As soon as we realized that you had won our support by a subterfuge we withdrew our endorsement of your candidacy.

mode

prevailing style She was not used to their lavish mode of living.

prerogative

privilege; unquestionable right The President cannot levy taxes; that is the prerogative of the legislative branch of government.

visionary

produced by imagination; fanciful; mystical She was given to visionary schemes that never materialized.

lucrative

profitable He turned his hobby into a lucrative profession.

wastrel

profligate. He was denounced as a wastrel who had dissipated his inheritance.

protract

prolong Seeking to delay the union members' vote, the management team tried to protract the negotiations endlessly, but the union representatives saw through their strategy.

salient

prominent One of the salient features of that newspaper is its excellent editorial page.

seemly

proper; appropriate Lady Bracknell did not think it was seemly for Ernest to lack a proper family; no baby abandoned on a doorstep could grow up to marry her daughter.

sibylline

prophetic; oracular Until their destruction by fire in 83 B.C., the sibylline books were often consulted by the Romans.

thrive

prosper; flourish Despite the impact of recession on the restaurant trade, Philip's cafe thrived.

tutelary

protective; pertaining to a guardianship I am acting in my tutelary capacity when I refuse to grant you permission to leave the campus.

remonstrance

protest; objection The authorities were deaf to the pastor's remonstrances about the lack of police protection in the area.

protuberance

protrusion; bulge A ganglionic cyst is a fluid-filled tumor (generally benign) that develops near a joint membrane or tendon sheath, and that bulges beneath the skin, forming a protuberance.

maxim

proverb; a truth pithily stated Aesop's fables illustrate moral maxims.

skimp

provide scantily; live very economically They were forced to skimp on necessities in order to make their limited supplies last the winter.

synoptic

providing a general overview; summary The professor turned to the latest issue of Dissertation Abstracts for a synoptic account of what was new in the field.

paranoia

psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution Suffering from paranois, he claimed everyone was out to get him; ironically, his claim was accurate; even paranoids have enemies.

tout

publicize; praise excessively I lost confidence in my broker after he touted some junk bonds that turned out to be a bad investment.

whiff

puff or gust (of air, scent, etc.); hint. The slightest whiff of Old Spice cologne brought memories of George to her mind.

wrest

pull away; take by violence. With only ten seconds left to play, our team wrested victory from their grasp.

wrench

pull; strain; twist. She wrenched free of her attacker and landed a powerful kick to his kneecap.

pillory

punish by placing in a wooden frame; subject to criticism and ridicule Even though he was mocked and pilloried, he maintained that he was correct in his beliefs.

punitive

punishing He asked for punitive measures against the offender.

platonic

purely spiritual; theoretical; without sensual desire Accused of impropriety in his dealings with female students, the professor maintained he had only a platonic interest in the women involved.

quintessence

purest and highest embodiment Noel Coward displayed the quintessence of wit.

obtrusive

pushing forward I found her a very obstrusive person, constantly seeking the center of the stage.

quell

put down; quiet The police used fire hoses and teat gas to quell the rioters.

propound

put forth for analysis In you discussion, you have propounded several questions; let us consider each one separately.

marshal

put in order At a debate tournament, extemporaneous speakers have only a minute or two to marshal their thoughts before addressing their audience.

verbalize

put into words I know you don't like to talk about these things, but please try to verbalize your feelings.

septic

putrid; producing putrefaction The hospital was in such a filthy state that we were afraid that many of the patients would suffer from septic poisoning.

rebus

puzzle in which pictures stand for words A coven of witches beside a tree is a possible rebus for the town Coventry.

timbre

quality of a musical tone produced by a musical instrument We identify the instrument producing a musical sound by its timbre.

poignancy

quality of being deeply moving; keenness of emotion Watching the tearful reunion of the long-separated mother and child, the social worker was touched by the poignancy of the scene.

naivete

quality of being unsophisticated I cannot believe that such naivete is unassumed in a person of her age and experience.

momentum

quantity of motion of a moving body; impetus The car lost momentum as it tried to ascend the steep hill.

wrangle

quarrel; obtain through arguing; herd cattle. They wrangled over their inheritance.

slake

quench; sate When we reached the oasis, we were able to slake our thirst.

nostrum

questionable medicine No quack selling nostrums is going to cheat me.

receptive

quick or willing to receive ideas, suggestions, etc. Adventure-loving Huck Finn proved a receptive audience for Tom's tales of buried treasure and piracy.

retort

quick, sharp reply Even when it was advisable for her to keep her mouth shut, she was always ready with a retort.

rummage

ransack; thoroughly search When we rummaged through the trunks in the attic, we found many souvenirs of our childhood days.

rant

rave; speak bombastically As we heard him rant on the platform, we could not understand his strange popularity with many people.

voracious

ravenous The wolf is a voracious animal, its hunger never satisfied.

maniacal

raving mad His maniacal laughter frightened us.

perusal

reading I am certain that you have missed important details in your rapid perusal of this document.

rampant

rearing up on hind legs; unrestrained The rampant weeds in the garden killed all the flowers that had been planted in the spring.

rationalize

reason; justify an improper act Do not try to rationalize your behavior by blaming your companions.

ratiocination

reasoning; act of drawing conclusions from premises While Watson was a man of average intelligence, Holmes was a genius, whose gift for ratiocination made him a superb detective.

maverick

rebel; nonconformist To the masculine literary establishment, George Sand with her insistence on wearing trousers and smoking cigars was clearly a maverick who fought her proper womanly role.

repercussion

rebound; reverberation; reaction I am afraid that this event will have serious repercussions.

recipient

receiver Although he had been the recipient of many favors, he was not grateful to his benefactor.

neophyte

recent convert; beginner This monuntain slope contains slides that will challenge esperts as well as neophytes.

recumbent

reclining; lying down completely or in part The command "AT EASE" does not permit you to take a recumbent position.

reactionary

recoiling from progress; retrograde His program was reactionary since it sought to abolish many of the social reforms instituted by the previous administration.

reminiscence

recollection Her reminiscences of her experiences are so fascinating that she ought to write a book.

recuperate

recover The doctors were worried because the patient did not recuperate as rapidly as they had expected.

retrieve

recover; find and bring in The dog was intelligent and quickly learned to retrieve the game killed by the hunter.

reprise

recurrent action; musical repetition; repeat performance At Waterloo, it was not the effect of any one skirmish that exhausted Colonel Audly; rather it was the cumulative effect of the constant reprises that left him spent.

ruddy

reddish; healthy-looking His ruddy features indicated that he had spent much time in the open.

sublimate

refine; purify We must strive to sublimate these desires and emotions into worthwhile activities.

meditation

reflection; thought She reached her decision only after much meditation.

rebuttal

refutation; response with contrary evidence The defense lawyer confidently listened to the prosecutor sum up his case, sure that she could answer his arguments in her rebuttal.

rueful

regretful; sorrowful; dejected The artist has captured the sadness of childhood in his portrait of the boy with the rueful countenance.

spurn

reject; scorn The heroine spurned the villain's advances.

nuptial

related to marriage Their nuptial ceremony was performed in Golden Gate Park.

monastic

related to monks Wanting to live a religious life, he took his monastic vows.

sidereal

relating to the stars Although hampered by optical and mechanical flaws, the orbiting Hubble space telescope has relayed extraordinary images of distant sidereal bodies.

remnant

remainder I suggest that you wait until the store places the remnants of these goods on sale.

residue

remainder; balance In his will, he requested that after payment of debts, taxes, and funeral expenses, the residue be given to his wife.

redress

remedy; compensation Do you mean to tell me that I can get no redress for my injuries?

refurbish

renovate; make bright by polishing The flood left a deposit of mud on everything; it was necessary to refurbish our belongings.

solder

repair or make whole by using a metal alloy The plumber fixed the leak in the pipes by soldering a couple of joints from which water had been oozing.

remediable

reparable Let us be grateful that the damage is remediable.

restitution

reparation; indemnification He offered to make restitution for the window broken by his son.

reimburse

repay Let me know what you have spent and I will reimburse you.

reciprocate

repay in kind If they attack us, we shall be compelled to reciprocate and bomb their territory.

retaliate

repay in kind (usually for bad treatment) Fear that we will retaliate immediately deters our foe from attacking us.

requite

repay; revenge The wretch requited his benefactors by betraying them.

reiterate

repeat He reiterated the warning to make sure everyone understood it.

replicate

reproduce; duplicate To the chagrin of the scientists, they were unable to replicate the results of their controversial experiment.

reprimand

reprove severely I am afraid that my parents will reprimand me when I show them my report card.

recant

repudiate; withdraw previous statement Unless you recant your confession, you will be punished severely.

sedentary

requiring sitting Because he had a sedentary occupation, he decided to visit a gymnasium weekly.

salvage

rescue from loss All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.

umbrage

resentment; anger; sense of injury or insult She took umbrage at his remarks and stormed away in a huff.

reticent

reserved; uncommunicative; inclined to silence Hughes preferred reticent employees to loquacious ones, noting that the formers' dislike of idle chatter might ensure their discretion about his affairs.

slag

residue from smelting metal; dross; waste matter The blast furnace had a special opening at the bottom to allow the workers to remove the worthless slag.

sedition

resistance to authority; insubordination His words, though not treasonous in themselves, were calculated to arouse thoughts of sedition.

sonorous

resonant His sonorous voice resounded through the hall.

recourse

resorting to help when in trouble The boy's only recourse was to appeal to his father for aid.

reputable

respectable If you want to buy antiques, look for a reputable dealer; far too many dealers today pass off fakes as genuine antiques.

reverent

respectful His reverent attitude was appropriate in a house of worship.

paraphrase

restate a passage in one's own words while retaining thought of author In 250 words or less, paraphrase this article.

renovate

restore to good condition; renew They claim that they can renovate worn shoes so that they look like new ones.

rehabilitate

restore to proper condition We must rehabilitate those whom we send to prison.

pinion

restrain They pinioned his arms against his body but left his legs free so that he could move about.

repress

restrain; crush; oppress Anne's parents tried to curb her impetuosity without repressing her boundless high spirits.

manacle

restrain; handcuff The police immediately manacled the prisoner so he could not escape.

temperate

restrained; self-controlled Noted for his temperate appetite, he seldom gained weight.

reprisal

retaliation I am confident that we are ready for any reprisals the enemy may undertake.

sequester

retire from public life; segregate; seclude Although he had hoped for a long time to sequester himself in a small community, he never was able to drop his busy round of activities in the city.

superannuated

retired or disqualified because of age The superannuated man was indignant because he felt that he could still perform a good day's work.

rejoinder

retort; comeback; reply When someone has been rude to me, I find it particularly satisfying to come up with a quick rejoinder.

resuscitate

revive The lifeguard tried to resuscitate the drowned child by applying artificial respiration.

repeal

revoke; annul What would the effect on our society be if we decriminalized drug use by repealing the laws against the possession and sale of narcotics?

ramshackle

rickety; falling apart The boys propped up the ramshackle clubhouse with a couple of boards.

title

right or claim to possession; mark of rank; name (of a book, film, etc.) Though the penniless Duke of Ragwort no longer held title to the family estate, he still retained his title as head of one of England's oldest families.

whorl

ring of leaves around stem; ring. Identification by fingerprints is based on the difference in shape and number of whorls on the fingers.

wallow

roll in; indulge in; become helpless. The hippopotamus loves to wallow in the mud.

tundra

rolling, treeless plain in Siberia and arctic North America Despite the cold, many geologists are trying to discover valuable mineral deposits in the tundra.

roseate

rosy; optimistic I am afraid you will have to alter your roseate views in the light of the distressing news that has just arrived.

rotundity

roundness; sonorousness of speech Washington Irving emphasized the rotundity of the governor by describing his height and circumference.

regal

royal Prince Albert had a regal manner.

surly

rude; cross Because of his surly attitude, many people avoided his company.

snivel

run at the nose; snuffle; whine Don't you come sniveling to me complaining about your big brother.

seedy

run-down; decrepit; disreputable I would rather stay in dormitory lodgings in a decent youth hostel than have a room of my own in a seedy downtown hotel.

pastoral

rural In these stories of pastoral life, we find an understanding of the daily tasks of country folk.

torrent

rushing stream; flood Day after day of heavy rain saturated the hillside until the water ran downhill in torrents.

saline

salty The slightly saline taste of this mineral water is pleasant.

monotony

sameness leading to boredom He took a clerical job, but soon grew to hate the monotony of his daily routine.

uniformity

sameness; consistency; monotony After a while, the uniformity of TV situation comedies becomes boring.

surfeit

satiate; stuff; indulge to excess in anything Every Thanksgiving we are surfeited with an overabundance of holiday treats.

sate

satisfy to the full; cloy Its hunger sated, the lion dozed.

relish

savor; enjoy I relish a good joke as much as anyone else.

meager

scanty; inadequate His salary was far too meager for him to afford to buy a new car.

machinations

schemes I can see through your wily machinations.

savant

scholar Our faculty includes many worldfamous savants.

pedant

scholar who overemphasizes book learning or technicalities Her insistence that the book be memorized marked the teacher as a pedant rather than a scholar.

ornithologist

scientific student of birds Auduborn's drawings of American bird life have been of interest not only to the ornithologists but also to the general public.

rail

scold; rant You may rail at him all you want; you will never change him.

upbraid

scold; reproach I must upbraid him for his unruly behavior.

shrew

scolding woman No one wanted to marry Shakespeare's Kate because she was a shrew.

sarcasm

scornful remarks, stinging rebuke His feelings were hurt by the sarcasm of his supposed friends.

surreptitious

secret News of their surreptitious meeting gradually leaked out.

privy

secret; hidden; not public We do not care for privy chamber of government.

silt

sediment deposited by running water The harbor channel must be dredged annually to remove the silt.

sophistry

seemingly plausible but fallacious reasoning Instead of advancing valid arguments, he tried to overwhelm his audience with a flood of sophistries.

specious

seemingly reasonable but incorrect Let us not be misled by such specious arguments.

usurp

seize power; supplant The revolution ended when the victorious rebel leader usurped the throne.

reserve

self-control; formal but distant manner Although some girls were attracted by Mark's reserve, Judy was put off by it, for she felt his aloofness indicated a lack of openness.

truism

self-evident truth Many a truism is well expressed in a proverb.

postulate

self-evident truth We must accept these statements as postulates before pursuing our discussions any further.

pomposity

self-important behavior; acting like a stuffed shirt Although the commencement speaker had some good things to say, we had to laugh at his pomposity and general air of parading his own dignity.

penance

self-imposed punishment for sin The Ancient Mariner said, "I have penance done and penance more will do," to atone for the sin of killing the albatross.

vendor

seller The fruit vendor sold her wares from a stall on the sidewalk.

solemnity

seriousness; gravity The minister was concerned that nothing should disturb the solemnity of the marriage service.

sycophant

servile flatterer The king enjoyed the servile compliments and attentions of the sycophants in his retinue.

mediate

settle a dispute through the services of an outsider Let us mediate out differences rather than engage in a costly strike.

subside

settle down; descend; grow quiet The doctor assured us that the fever would eventually subside.

reprobation

severe disapproval The students showed their reprobation of his act by refusing to talk with him.

shoddy

sham; not genuine; inferior You will never get the public to buy such shoddy material.

whet

sharpen; stimulate. The odors from the kitchen are whetting my appetite; I will be ravenous by the time the meal is served.

pungency

sharpness; stinging quality The pungency of the cigarette smoke made me cough.

tonsure

shaving of the head, especially by person entering religious orders His tonsure, even more than his monastic garb, indicated that he was a member of the religious order.

molt

shed or cast off hair or feathers The male robin molted in the spring.

luster

shine; gloss The soft luster of the silk in the dim light was pleasing.

lustrous

shining Her large and lustrous eyes gave a touch of beauty to an otherwise drab face.

luminous

shining; issuing light The sun is a luminous body.

parable

short, simple story teaching a moral Let us apply to our own conduct the lesson that this parable teaches.

painstaking

showing hard work; taking great care The new high-frequency word list is the result of painstaking efforts on the part of our research staff.

wince

shrink back; flinch. The screech of the chalk on the blackboard made her wince.

wither

shrivel; decay. Cut flowers are beautiful for a day, but all too soon they wither.

occlude

shut; close A blood clot occluded an artery to the heart.

mawkish

sickening; insipid Your mawkish sighs fill me with disgust.

winnow

sift; separate good parts from bad. This test will winnow out the students who study from those who don't bother.

portent

sign; omen; forewarning He regarded the black cloud as a portent of evil.

muted

silent; muffled; toned down In the funeral parlor, the mourners' voices had a muted quality.

synchronous

similary timed; simultaneous with We have many examples of scientists in different parts of the world who have made synchronous discoveries.

warble

sing; babble. Every morning the birds warbled outside her window.

scuttle

sink The sailors decided to scuttle their vessel rather than surrender it to the enemy.

ulterior

situated beyond; unstated and often questionable You must have an ulterior motive for your behavior, since there is no obvious reason for it.

vilify

slander She is a liar and is always trying to vilify my reputation.

obloquy

slander; disgrace; infamy I resent the obloquy that you are casting upon my reputation.

revile

slander; vilify He was avoided by all who feared that he would revile and abuse them if they displeased him.

oblique

slanting; deviating from the perpendicular or from a straight line The sergeant ordered the men to march "oblique right."

shambles

slaughterhouse; scene of carnage By the time the police arrived, the room was a shambles.

thrall

slave; bondage The captured soldier was held in thrall by the conquering army.

servitude

slavery; compulsory labor Born a slave, Douglass resented his wife of servitude and plotted to escape to the North.

servile

slavish; cringing Constantly fawning on his employer, humble Uriah Heap was a servile creature.

obsequious

slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic Helen valued people who behaved as if they respected themselves; nothing irritated her more than an excessively obsequious waiter or a fawning salesclerk.

opiate

sleep producer; deadener of pain By such opiates, she made the people forget their difficulties and accept their unpleasant circumstances.

soporific

sleep producing I do not need a sedative when I listen to one of his soporific speeches.

somnambulist

sleepwalker The most famous somnambulist in literature is Lady Macbeth; her monologue in the sleepwalking scene is one of the highlights of Shakespeare's play.

smattering

slight knowledge I don't know whether it is better to be ignorant of a subject or to have a mere smattering of information about it.

peccadillo

slight offense If we examine these escapades carefully, we will realize that they are mere peccadilloes rather than major crimes.

slither

slip or slide During the recent ice storm, many people slithered down this hill as they walked to the station.

ramp

slope; inclined plane The house was built with ramps instead of stairs in order to enable the man in the wheelchair to move easily from room to room and floor to floor.

slacken

slow up; loosen As they passed the finish line, the runners slackened their pace.

sloth

slow-moving tree-dwelling mammal Note how well the somewhat greenish coat of the sloth enables it to blend in with its arboreal surroundings.

sluggish

slow; lazy; lethargic After two nights without sleep, she felt sluggish and incapable of exertion.

stealth

slyness; sneakiness; secretiveness Fearing detection by the sentries on duty, the scout inched his way toward the enemy camp with great stealth.

satellite

small body revolving around a larger one During the first few years of the Space Age, hundreds of satellites were launched by Russia and the United States.

mote

small speck The tiniest mote in the eye is very painful.

rivulet

small stream As the rains continued, the trickle of water running down the hillside grew into a rivulet that threatened to wash away a portion of the slope.

microcosm

small world In the microcosm of our rural village, we find illustrations of all the evils that beset the universe.

skiff

small, light sailboat or rowboat Tom dreamed of owning an ocean-going yacht but had to settle for a skiff he could sail in the bay.

pallet

small, poor bed The weary traveler went to sleep on his straw pallet.

whit

smallest speck. There is not a whit of intelligence or understanding in your observations.

simper

smirk; smile affectedly Complimented on her appearance, Stella self-consciously simpered.

rebuff

snub; beat back She rebuffed his invitation so smoothly that he did not realize he had been snubbed.

negligible

so small, trifling, or unimportant as to be easily disregarded Because the damage to his car had been negligible, Michael decided he wouldn't bother to report the matter to his insurance company.

saturate

soak Their clothes were saturated by the rain.

steep

soak; saturate Be sure to steep the fabric in the dye bath for the full time prescribed.

sodden

soaked; dull, as if from drink He set his sodden overcoat near the radiator to dry.

staid

sober; sedate Her conduct during the funeral ceremony was staid and solemn.

pariah

social outcast I am not a pariah to be shunned and ostracized.

plutocracy

society ruled by the wealthy From the way the government caters to the rich, you might think our society is a plutocracy rather than a democracy.

quagmire

soft, wet, boggy land; complex or dangerous situation from which it is difficult to free oneself Up to her knees in mud, Myra wondered how on earth she was going to extricate herself from this quagmire.

macerate

soften by soaking in liquid; waste away The strawberries had been soaking in the champagn for so long that they had begun to macerate: they literally fell apart at the touch of a spoon.

monolithic

solidly uniform; unyielding Knowing the importance of appearing resolute, the patriots sought to present a monolithic front.

scapegoat

someone who bears the blame for others After the Challenger disaster, NASA searched for scapegoats on whom they could cast the blame.

ventriloquist

someone who can make his or her voice seem to come from another person or thing This ventriloquist does an act in which she has a conversation with a wooden dummy.

spendthrift

someone who wastes money Easy access to credit encourages people to turn into spendthrifts who shop till they drop. 193. sphinx-like enigmatic; mysterious The Mona Lisa's sphinx-like expression has puzzled art lovers for centuries.

perennial

something long-lasting Tese plants are hardy perennials and will bloom for many years.

novelty

something new; newness The computer is no longer a novelty around the office.

sleeper

something originally of little value or importance that in time becomes very valuable Unnoticed by the critics at its publication, the eventual Pulitzer Prize winner was a classic sleeper.

precedent

something preceding in time that may be used as an authority or guide for future action This decision sets a precedent for future cases of a similar nature.

paean

song of praise or joy paeans celebrating the victory filled the air.

mollify

soothe We tried to mollify the hysterical child by promising her many gifts.

pacify

soothe; make calm or quiet; subdue Dentists criticize the practice of giving fussy children sweets to pacify them.

poultice

soothing application applied to sore and inflamed portions of the body He was advised to apply a flaxseed poultice to the inflammation.

wizardry

sorcery; magic. Merlin amazed the knights with his wizardry.

seamy

sordid; unwholesome In the Godfather, Michael Corleone is unwilling to expose his wife and children to the seamy side of his life as the son of a Mafia don.

scintillate

sparkle; flash I enjoy her dinner parties because the food is excellent and the conversation scintillates.

waffle

speak equivocally about an issue. When asked directly about the governor's involvement in the savings and loan scandal, the press secretary waffled, talking all around the issue.

malign

speak evil of; defame Because of her hatred of the family, she maligns all who are friendly to them.

prate

speak foolishly; boast idly Let us not prate about our qualities; rather, let our virtues speak for themselves.

polyglot

speaking several languages New York City is a polyglot community because of the thousands of immigrants who settle there.

taxonomist

specialist in classifying (animals, etc.) Dental patterns often enable the taxonomist to distinguish members of one rodent species from those of another.

velocity

speed The train went by at considerable velocity.

tempo

speed of music I find the conductor's tempo too slow for such a brilliant piece of music.

niggle

spend too much time on minor points; carp Let's not niggle over details.

regeneration

spiritual rebirth Modern penologists strive for the regeneration of the prisoners.

polarize

split into opposite extremes or camps The abortion issue has polarized the country into pro-choice and anti-abortion camps.

rend

split; tear apart In his grief, he tried to rend his garments.

vitiate

spoil the effect of; make inoperative Fraud will vitiate the contract.

mottled

spotted When he blushed, his face took on a mottled hue.

maculated

spotted; stained Instead of writing that Gorbachev had a birthmark on his forehead, the pompous young poet sang of the former premier's maculated brow.

suffuse

spread over A blush suffused her cheeks when we teased her about her love affair.

strew

spread randomly; sprinkle; scatter Preceding the bride to the altar, the flower girl will strew rose petals along the aisle.

pervasive

spread throughout Despite airing them for several hours, she could not rid her clothes of the pervasive odor of mothbals that clung to them.

spat

squabble; minor dispute What had started out as a mere spat escalated into a full-blown argument.

writhe

squirm, twist. He was writhing in pain, desperate for the drug his body required.

musty

stale; spoiled by age The attic was dark and musty.

scotch

stamp out; thwart; hinder Heather tried to scotch the rumor that she had stolen her best friend's fiance.

philatelist

stamp-collector When she heard the value of the Penny Black stamp, Phyllis was inspired to become a philatelist.

rout

stampede; drive out The reinforcements were able to rout the enemy

quirk

startling twise; caprice By a quirk of fate, he found himself working for the man whom he had discharged years before.

stupor

state of apathy; daze; lack of awareness In his stupor, the addict was unaware of the events taking place around him.

multiplicity

state of being numerous He was appalled by the multuplicity of details he had to complete before setting out on his mission.

parallelism

state of being parallel; similarity There is a striking parallelism between the twins.

responsiveness

state of reacting readily to appeals, order, etc. The audience cheered and applauded, delighting the performers by its responsiveness.

turbulence

state of violent agitation We were frightened by the turbulence of the ocean during the storm.

paradox

statement that looks false but is actually correct; a contradictory statement Wordworth's "The child is father to the man" is an example of paradox.

unfaltering

steadfast She approached the guillotine with unfaltering steps.

plagiarize

steal another's ideas and pass them off as one's own The editor could tell that the writer had plagiarized parts of the article; he could recognize whole paragraphs from the original source.

lurk

stealthily lie in waiting; slink; exist unperceived "Who knows what evils lurk in the hearts of men? The shadow knows."

precipitous

steep; overhasty This hill is difficult to climb because it is so precipitous; one slip, and our descent will be precipitous as well.

protrude

stick out His fingers protruded from the holes in his gloves.

viscous

sticky, gluey Melted tar is a viscous substance.

rigid

stiff and unyielding; strict; hard and unbending By living with a man to whom she was not married, George Eliot broke Victorian society's most rigid rule of respectable behavior.

parsimonious

stingy; excessively frugal His parsimonious nature did not permit him to enjoy any luxuries.

miserly

stingy; mean The miserly old man hoarded his coins not out of prudence but out of greed.

penurious

stingy; parsimonious He was a penurious man, averse to spending money even for the necessities of life.

proviso

stipulation I am ready to accept your proposal with the two proviso that you meet your obligations within the next two weeks.

stoke

stir up a fire; feed plentifully As a Scout, Marisa learned how to light a fire, how to stoke it if it started to die down, and how to extinguish it completely.

provoke

stir up anger; cause retaliation In order to prevent a sudden outbreak of hostilities, we must not provoke our foe.

suture

stitches sewn to hold the cut edges of a wound or incision; material used in sewing We will remove the sutures as soon as the wound heals.

squat

stocky; short and thick Tolkien's hobbits are somewhat squat, sturdy little creatures, fond of good ale, good music, and good food.

touchstone

stone used to test the fineness of gold alloys; criterion What touchstone can be used to measure the character of a person?

repository

storehouse Libraries are repositories of the world's best thoughts.

raconteur

story-teller My father was a gifted raconteur with an unlimited supply of anecdotes.

portly

stout; corpulent The salesclerk tactfully referred to the overweight customer as portly rather than fat.

uncanny

strange; mysterious You have the uncanny knack of reading my innermost thoughts.

throttle

strangle The criminal tried to throttle the old man with his bare hands.

vagrant

stray; random He tried to study, but could not collect his vagrant thoughts.

stamina

strength; staying power I doubt that she has the stamina to run the full distance of the marathon race.

undergird

strengthen the base of Whereas relativity theory undermined the Newtonian mechanics, cosmology was undergirded by it.

prostrate

stretch out full on ground He prostrated himself before the idol.

martinet

strict disciplinarian The commanding officer was a martinet who observed each regulation to the ltter.

percussion

striking one object against another sharply The drum is a percussion instrument.

saunter

stroll slowly As we sauntered through the park, we stopped frequently to admire the spring flowers.

transport

strong emotion Margo was a creature of extremes, at one moment in transports of joy over a vivid sunset, at another moment in transports of grief over a dying bird.

penchant

strong inclination; liking He had a strong penchant for sculpture and owned many statues.

stalwart

strong, brawny; steadfast His consistent support of the party has proved that he is a stalwart and loyal member.

scuffle

struggle confusedly; move off in a confused hurry. The twins briefly scuffled, wrestling to see which of them would get the toy. When their big brother yelled, "Let go of my Gameboy!" they scuffled off down the hall.

obdurate

stubborn He was obdurate in his refusal to listen to our complaints.

obstinate

stubborn We tried to persuade him to give up smoking, but he was obstinate and refused to change.

pertinacious

stubborn; persistent He is bound to succeed because his pertinacious nature will not permit him to quit.

refractory

stubborn; unmanageable The refractory horse was eliminated from the race when he refused to obey the jockey.

perverse

stubbornly wrongheaded; wicked and unacceptable When Hannibal Lecter was in a perverse mood, he ate the flesh of his victims.

pore

study industriously; ponder; scrutinize Determined to become a physician, Beth spends hours poring over her anatomy text.

philology

study of language The professor of philology advocated the use of Esperanto as an international language.

paleontology

study of prehistoric life The professor of paleontology had a superb collection of fossils.

stodgy

stuffy; boringly conservative For a young person, Winston seems remarkably stodgy: you'd expect someone of his age to have a little more life.

oaf

stupid, awkward person He called the unfortunate waiter a clumsy oaf.

rakish

stylish; sporty He wore his hat at a rakish and jaunty angle.

urbane

suave; refined; elegant The courtier was urbane and sophisticated

quash

subdue; crush; squash The authorities acted quickly to quash the student rebellion, sending in tanks to cow the demonstrators.

meek

submissive; patient and long-suffering Mr. Barrett never expected his meek daughter would dare to defy him by eloping with her suitor.

subaltern

subordinate The captain treated his subalterns as though they were children rather than commissioned officers.

subsidiary

subordinate; secondary This information may be used as subsidiary evidence but is not sufficient by itself to prove your argument.

propellant

substance that propels or drives forward The development of our missile program has forced our scientists to seek more powerful propellants.

surrogate

substitute For a fatherless child, a male teacher may become a father surrogate.

spate

sudden flood I am worried about the possibility of a spate if the rains do not diminish soon.

revulsion

sudden violent change of feeling; negative reaction Many people in this country who admired dictatorships underwent a revulsion when they realized what Hitler and Mussolini were trying to do.

potable

suitable for drinking The recent drought in the Middle Atlantic States has emphasized the need for extensive research in ways of making sea water potable.

menial

suitable for sevants; low I cannot understand why a person of your ability and talent should engage in such menial activities.

pertinent

suitable; to the point The lawyer wanted to know all the pertinent details.

recapitulate

summarize Let us recapitulate what has been said thus far before going ahead.

vertex

summit Let us drop a perpendicular line from the vertex of the triangle to the base.

perfunctory

superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm The auditor's perfunctory inspection of the books overlooked many errors.

redundant

superfluous; excessively wordy; repetitious Your composition is redundant; you can easily reduce its length.

stint

supply; allotted amount; assigned portion of work He performed his daily stint cheerfully and willingly.

patronize

support; act superior toward Experts in a field sometimes appear to patronize people who are less knowledgeable of the subject.

strut

supporting bar The engineer calculated that the strut supporting the rafter needed to be reinforced.

reputed

supposed He is the reputed father of the child.

putative

supposed; reputed Although there are some doubts, the putative author of this work is Massinger.

stifle

suppress; extinguish; inhibit Halfway through the boring lecture, Laura gave up trying to stifle her yawns.

satiate

surfeit; satisfy fully The guests, having eaten until they were satiated, now listened inattentively to the speakers.

outrtip

surpass; outdo Jesse Owens easily outstripped his competitors to win the gold metal at the Olympic Games.

reconnaissance

survey of enemy by soldiers; reconnoitering If you encounter any enemy soldiers during your reconnaissance, capture them for questioning.

relic

surviving remnant; memento Egypt's Department of Antiquities prohibits tourists from taking mummies and other ancient relics out of the country.

vulnerable

susceptible to wounds Achilles was vulnerable only in his heel.

miasma

swamp gas; heavy, vaporous atmosphere, often emanating from decaying matter; pervasive corrupting influence The smog hung over Victorian London like a dark cloud; noisome, reeking of decay, it was a visible miasma.

sultry

sweltering He could not adjust himself to the sultry climate of the tropics.

meteoric

swift; momentarily brilliant We all wondered at his meteoric rise to fame.

natation

swimming The Red Cross emphasizes the need for courses in natation.

turgid

swollen; distended The turgid river threatened to overflow the levees and flood the contryside.

tumid

swollen; pompous; bombastic I especially dislike his tumid style; I prefer writing which is less swollen and bombastic.

methodical

systematic An accountant must be methodical and maintain order among his financial records.

retroactive

taking effect before its enactment (as a law) or imposition (as a tax) Because the new pension law was retroactive to the first of the year, even though Martha had retired in February she was eligible for the pension.

resumption

taking up again; recommencement During the summer break, Don had not realized how much he missed university life: at the resumption of classes, however, he felt marked excitement and pleasure.

loquacious

talkative She is very loquacious and can speak on the telephone for hours.

soliloquy

talking to oneself The soliloquy is a device used by the dramatist to reveal a character's innermost thoughts and emotions.

obelisk

tall column tapering and ending in a pyramid Cleopatra's Needle is an obelisk in New York City's Central Park.

palpable

tangible; easily perceptible I cannot understand how you could overlook such a palpable blunder.

prey

target of a hunt; victim In Stalking the Wild Asparagus, Euell Gibbons has as his prey not wild beasts but wild plants.

sully

tarnish; soil He felt that it was beneath his dignity to sully his hands in such menial labor.

savory

tasty; pleasing, attractive, or agreeable Julia Child's recipes enable amateur chefs to create savory delicacies for their guests.

quip

taunt You are unpopular because you are too free with your quips and sarcastic comments.

tribute

tax levied by a ruler; mark of respect The colonists refused to pay tribute to a foreign despot.

tithe

tax of one-tenth Because he was an agnostic, he refused to pay his tithes to the clergy.

pedagogue

teacher He could never be a stuffy pedagogue; his classes were always lively and filled with humor.

sophist

teacher of philosophy; quibbler; employer of fallacious reasoning You are using all the devices of a sophist in trying to prove your case; your argument is specious.

pedagogy

teaching; art of education Though Maria Montessori gained fame for her innovations in pedagogy, it took years before her teaching techniques became common practice in American schools.

rent

tear or rip; split The conflict over abortion threatens to split our nation, creating a rent in the social fabric that will be difficult to mend.

tantalize

tease; torture with disappointment Tom loved to tantalize his younger brother with candy; he knew the boy was forbidden to have it.

remission

temporary moderation of disease symptoms; cancellation of a debt; forgiveness or pardon Though Senator Tsongas had been treated for cancer, his symptoms were in remission, and he was considered fit to handle the strains of a Presidential race.

scaffold

temporary platform for workers; bracing framework; platform for execution Before painting the house, the workers put up a scaffold to allow them to work on the second story.

sojourn

temporary stay After his sojourn in Florida, he began to long for the colder climate of his native New England home.

reprieve

temporary stay During the twenty-four-hour reprieve, the lawyers sought to make the stay of execution permanent.

pathos

tender to sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings. The quiet tone of pathos that ran through the novel never degenerated into the maudlin or the overly sentimental.

salutary

tending to improve; beneficial; wholesome The punishment had a salutary effect on the boy, as he became a model student.

subversive

tending to overthrow; destructive At first glance, the notion that Styrofoam cups may actually be more ecologically sound than paper cups strikes most environmentalists as subversive.

provisional

tentative The appointment is provisional; only on the approval of the board of directors will it be made permanent.

nomenclature

terminology; system of names She struggled to master scientific nomenclature.

terminology

terms used in a science or art The special terminology developed by some authorities in the field has done more to confuse laypersons than to enlighten them.

sententious

terse; concise; aphoristic After reading so many redundant speeches, I find his sententious style particulary pleasing.

occident

the West It will take occident to understand the ways and customs of the orient.

unction

the act of anointing with oil The anointing with oil of a person near death is called extreme unction.

prosody

the art of versification This book on prosody contains a rhyming dictionary as well as samples of the various verse forms.

venison

the meat of a deer The hunters dined on venison.

molecule

the smallest particle (one or more atoms) of a substance that has all the properties of that substance In chemistry, we study how atoms and molcules react to form new substances.

motif

theme This simple motif runs throughout the score.

pachyderm

thick-skinned animal The elephant is probably the best-known pachyderm.

veneer

thin layer; cover Casual acquaintances were deceived by his veneer of sophistication and failed to recognize his fundamental shallowness.

tenuous

thin; rare; slim The allegiance of our allies is held by rather tenuous ties; let us hope they will remain loyal.

wispy

thin; slight; barely discernible. Worried about preserving his few wispy tufts of hair, Walter carefully massaged his scalp and applied hair restorer every night.

tertiary

third He is so thorough that he analyzes tertiary causes where other writers are content with primary and secondary reasons.

millenium

thousand-year period; period of happiness and prosperity I do not expect the milennium to come during my lifetime.

ominous

threatening Those clouds are ominous; they suggest that a severe storm is on the way.

tether

tie with a rope Before we went to sleep, we tethered the horses to prevent their wandering off during the night.

taut

tight; ready The captain maintained that he ran a taut ship.

yore

time past. He dreamed of the elegant homes of yore, but gave no thought to their inelegant plumbing.

opportune

timely; well chosen You have come at an opportune moment for I need a new secretary.

rubric

title or heading (in red print); directions for religious ceremony; protocol In ordaining the new priests, the bishop carefully observed all the rubrics for the ordination service.

terminate

to bring to an end When his contract was terminated unexpectedly, he desperately needed a new job.

nullify

to make invalid Once the contract was nullified, it no longer had any legal force.

roil

to make liquids murky by stirring up sediment; to disturb Be careful when you pour not to roil the wine; if you stir up the sediment you'll destroy the flavor.

rhapsodize

to speak or write in an exaggeratedly enthusiastic manner She greatly enjoyed her Hawaiian vacation and rhapsodized about it for weeks.

unfrock

to strip a priest or minister of church authority To disbar a lawyer, to unfrock a priest, to suspend a doctor's license to practice--these are extreme steps that the authorities should take only after careful consideration.

meander

to wind or turn in its course It is difficult to sail up this stream because of the way it meanders through the countryside.

memento

token; reminder Take this book as a memento of your visit.

sepulcher

tomb Annabel Lee was buried in a sepulcher by the sea.

modulation

toning down; changing from one key to another When we she spoke, it was with quiet modulation of voice.

vise

tool for holding work in place Before filling its edges, the keysmith took the blank key and fixed it firmly between the jaws of a vise.

pestle

tool for mashing or grinding substances in a hard bowl From the way in which the elderly pharmacist pounded the drug with his pestle, young George could tell that his employer was agitated about something.

petulant

touchy; peevish The feverish patient was petulant and restless.

sinewy

tough; strong and firm The steak was too sinewy to chew

vestige

trace; remains We discovered vestiges of early Indian life in the cave.

orthodox

traditional; conservative in belief Faced with a problem, he preferred to take an orthodox approach rather than shock anyone.

turncoat

traitor The British considered Benedict Arnold a loyalist; the Americans considered him a turncoat.

rendition

translation; artistic interpretation of a song, etc. The audience cheered enthusiastically as she completed her rendition of the aria.

trivia

trifles; unimportant matters Too many magazines ignore newsworthy subjects and feature trivia.

platitude

trite remark; commonplace statement The platitudes in his speech were applauded by the vast majority in his audience; only a few people perceived how trite his remarks were.

torso

trunk of statue with head and limbs missing; human trunk This torso, found in the ruins of Pompeii, is now on exhibition in the museum in Naples.

verity

truth; reality The four verities were revealed to Buddha during his long meditation.

veracious

truthful I can recommend him for this position because I have always found him veracious and reliable.

warren

tunnels in which rabbits live; crowded conditions in which people live. The tenement was a veritable warren, packed with people too poor to live elsewhere.

welter

turmoil; bewildering jumble. The existing welter of overlapping federal and state proclaims cries out for immediate reform.

shunt

turn aside; divert; sidetrack If the switchman failed to shunt the Silver Streak onto a side track, the train would plow right into Union Station.

petrify

turn to stone His sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to petrify her.

wry

twisted; with a humorous twist. We enjoy Dorothy Parker's verse for its wry wit.

torque

twisting force; force producing rotation With her wrench she applied sufficient torque to the nut the loosen it.

unsightly

ugly Although James was an experienced emergency room nurse, he occasionally became queasy when faced with a particularly unsightly injury.

unwonted

unaccustomed He hesitated to assume the unwonted role of master of ceremonies at the dinner.

unprepossessing

unattractive During adolescence many attractive young people somehow acquire the false notion that their appearance is unprepossessing.

unseemly

unbecoming; indecent Your levity is unseemly at this time of mourning.

static

unchanging; lacking development Nothing had changed at home; things were static there

manifest

understandable; clear His evil intentions were manifest and yet we could not stop him.

tacit

understood; not put into words We have a tacit agreement based on only a handshake.

mortician

undertaker The mortician prepared the corpse for burial.

nondescript

undistinctive; ordinary The private detective was a short, nondescript fellow with no ourstanding features, the sort of person one would never notice in a crowd.

malaise

uneasiness; distress She felt a sudden vague malaise when she heard sounds at the door.

unintimidating

unfrightening Though Phil had expected to feel overawed when he met Joe Montana, he found the experience unintimidating and relaxing.

unscathed

unharmed They prayed he would come back from the war unscathed.

unwitting

unintentional; not knowing She was the unwitting tool of the swindlers

uninhibited

unrepressed The congregation was shocked by her uninhibited laughter during the sermon.

wanton

unrestrained; willfully malicious; unchaste. Pointing to the stack of bills, Sheldon criticized Sarah for her wanton expenditures. In response, Sara accused Sheldon of making an unfounded, wanton attack.

mutinous

unruly; rebellious The captain had to use force to quiet his mutinous crew.

unassuaged

unsatisfied; not soothed Her anger is unassuaged by your apology.

unconscionable

unscrupulous; excessive She found the load shark's demands unconscionable and impossible to meet.

slovenly

untidy; slipshod Such slovenly work habits will never produce good products.

rectitude

uprightness He was renowned for his rectitude and integrity.

retribution

vengeance; compensation; punishment for offenses The evangelist maintained that an angry deity would exact retribution from the sinners.

prolix

verbose; drawn out Her prolix arguments irritated and bored the jury.

substantiate

verify; support I intend to substantiate my statement by producing witnesses.

protean

versatile; able to take on many forms A remarkably protean actor, Alec Guinness could take on any role.

mammal

vertebrate animal whose female suckles its young Many people regard the whale as a fish and do not realize that it is a mammal.

plumb

vertical Before hanging wallpaper it is advisable to drop a plumb line from the ceiling as a guide.

pernicious

very destructive, harmful He argued that these books had a pernicious effect on young and susceptible minds.

munificent

very generous The munificent gift was presented to the bride by her rich uncle.

lofty

very high They used to tease him about his lofty ambitions.

momentous

very important On this momentous occasion, we must be very solemn.

myriad

very large number myriads of mosquitoes from the swamps invaded our village every twilight.

pauper

very poor person Though Widow Brown was living on a reduced income, she was by no means a pauper.

prim

very precise and formal; exceedingly proper Many people commented on the contrast between the prim attire of the young lady and the inappropriate clothing worn by her escort.

mite

very small object or creature; small coin Gnats are annoying mites that sing.

nefarious

very wicked He was universally feared because of his many nefarious deeds.

rile

vex; irritate; muddy Red had a hair-trigger temper: he was an easy man to rile.

vital

vibrant and lively; critical; living, breathing The vital, highly energetic first aid instructor stressed that it was vital in examining accident victims to note their vital signs.

quarry

victim; object of a hunt The police closed in on their quarry.

robust

vigorous; strong The candidate for the football team had a robust physique.

spry

vigorously active; nimble She was eighty years old, yet still spry and alert.

transgression

violation of a law; sin Forgive us our transgressions; we know not what we do.

unbridled

violent She had a sudden fit of unbridled rage.

throes

violent anguish The throes of despair can be as devastating as the spasms accompanying physical pain.

nomadic

wandering Several nomadic tribes of Indians would hunt in this area each year.

ribald

wanton; profane He sang a ribald song that offended many of the more prudish listeners.

martial

warlike The sound of marital music was always inspiring to the young poet.

muggy

warm and damp August in New York City is often muggy.

squander

waste The prodigal son squandered the family estate.

prodigal

wasteful; reckless with money The prodigal son squandered his inheritance.

surveillance

watching; guarding The FBI kept the house under constant surveillance in the hope of capturing all the criminals at one time.

undermine

weaken; sap The recent corruption scandals have undermined many people's faith in the city government.

tycoon

wealthy leader John D. Rockefeller was a prominent tycoon.

maelstrom

whirlpool The canoe was tossed about in the maelstrom.

vortex

whirlwind; whirlpool; center of turbulence; predicament into which one is inexorably plunged Sucked into the vortex of the tornado, Dorothy and Toto were carried from Kansas to Oz.

pandemic

widespread; affecting the majority of people They feared the AIDS epidemic would soon reach pandemic proportions.

prevalent

widespread; generally accepted A radical committed to social change, Reed had no patience with the conservative views prevalent in the America of his day.

wangle

wiggle out; fake. She tried to wangle an invitation to the party.

pandemonium

wild tumult When the ships collided in the harbor, pandemonium broke out among the passengers.

lurid

wild; sensational The lurid stories he told shocked his listeners.

sinuous

winding; bending in and out; not morally honest The snake moved in a sinuous manner.

tortuous

winding; full of curves Because this road is so tortuous, it is unwise to go faster than twenty miles an hour on it.

serpentine

winding; twisting The car swerved at every curve in the serpentine road.

malevolent

wishing evil We must thwart his malevolent schemes.

retraction

withdrawal He dropped his libel suit after the newspaper published a retraction of its statement.

secession

withdrawal The secession of the Southern states provided Lincoln with his first major problem after his inauguration.

recession

withdrawal; retreat; time of low economic activity The slow recession of the flood waters created problems for the crews working to restore power to the area.

wizened

withered; shriveled. The wizened old man in the home for the aged was still active and energetic.

unique

without an equal; single in kind You have the unique distinction of being the first student whom I have had to fail in this course.

random

without definite purpose, plan, or aim; haphazard Although the sponsor of the raffle claimed all winners were chosen at random, people had their suspicions when the grand prize went to the sponsor's brother-in-law.

witticism

witty saying; facetious remark. What you regard as witticisms are often offensive to sensitive people.

matriarch

woman who rules a family or larger social group The matriarch ruled her gypsy tribe with a firm hand.

verbatim

word for word He repeated the message verbatim.

onomatopoeia

words formed in imitation of natural sounds Words like "rustle" and "gargle" are illustrations of onomatopoeia.

toil

work laboriously; make slow painful progress You must toil through 3500 words list in order to achieve a high score on GRE.

secular

worldly; not pertaining to church matters; temporal The church leaders decided not interfere in secular matters.

solicitous

worried, concerned The employer was very solicitous about the health of her employees as replacements were difficult to get.

swathe

wrap around; bandage When I visited him in the hospital, I found him swathed in bandages.

miscreant

wretch; villain His kindness to the miscreant amazed all of us who had expected to hear severe punishment pronounced.

subpoena

writ summoning a witness to appear The prosecutor's office was ready to serve a subpoena on the reluctant witness.

writ

written command issued by a court. The hero of Leonard's novel is a process server who invents unorthodox ways of serving writs on reluctant parties.

misnomer

wrong name; incorrect designation His tyrannical conduct proved to all that his nickname, King Eric the Just, was a misnomer.

malfeasance

wrongdoing The authorities did not discover the campaign manager's malfeasance until after he had spent most of the money he had embezzled.

whelp

young wolf, dog, tiger, etc. This collie whelp won't do for breeding, but he'd make a fine pet.

nirvana

Buddihist teachings, the ideal state in which the individual loses himself in the attainment of an impersonal beatitude Despite his desire to achieve nirvana, the young Buddhist found that even the buzzing of a fly could distract him from his meditation.